I found out that we were moving one day when I was talking to my mom about redecorating my room.  The move was not a quick decision, rather we sat down and made countless lists and over-analyzed every little detail.  Both my parents wanted to move closer to where they grew up, but they left the decision up to my younger brother and me.  They had actually been talking about moving “back East” for a few years, but for some reason this time the details worked themselves out.  After making a list, I decided that moving to a different part of the country would be a fun experience.  I had no clue as to the heartbreak that would come and the emotional strain it would put on my relationships.
 

 I decided to make the best of my last few weeks in Houston.  Jessica and I spent every moment together.  We burned all the pictures, love letters and t-shirts of previous men, spent hours shopping and sleepless nights talking about our future plans.  We created a scenario in which not only would our careers blend together, but we would also become sisters-in-law.  Trent was the first to graduate high school (in 1999) and he was going to move to Austin to go to the University of Texas.  The next year I would follow him and we would get a 2-bedroom apartment together.  The following year Jessica would join us and her and me would share a room in the apartment.  By the time Bob joined us, Trent and me would be engaged and sharing a room, while Bob and Jessica (finally a HAPPY couple) would share the other one.  I was going to get a degree in psychology and become a marriage counselor while Jessica was going to law school to become a divorce lawyer.  Our offices would be in the same building so if they couldn’t work things out with me, they could go down the hall to get it straightened out.   Even as I was packing to move this was still our plan.

 The night before the moving van was to come to get our stuff I stayed with Jessica.  This was our last night together and we were determined to stay up to see the sunrise.  It was something we had been trying to do for over three years, but we hadn’t made it through the night yet.  We stayed up talking and watching our favorite movies, but we ended up falling asleep before morning.  She still had one more day of school so her dad drove me home on the way to taking her to school.  After she took some tests she was going to come over to keep me company while all my stuff was being packed into the truck.

 Trying to get all our stuff situated was enough, but we also had to worry about our dog and last minute details.  I don’t have a clue what my father was doing, but somehow our sink stopped up.  We had about 2 hours until we were supposed to leave the state and our sink wasn’t working.  We didn’t have time to call a plumber, but my dad finally got it fixed and things started falling into place.  We loaded the extra boxes into the car and got ready to leave.

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 When I was leaving League City to move to Fairmont, West Virginia, I was left standing there getting ready to say goodbye to everything I had ever known; I wasn’t sure what to feel.  It was bittersweet happiness. Saying goodbye to all my friends was the hardest.  Trent stopped by and I hadn’t spoken a word to him in six months, but I still wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him.  I played one last game of basketball with my neighbors and after some last minute confusion climbed into the car to leave.  I hated leaving the comfort of the town I had grown up in, but I was about to start a new life.  I could be anything I wanted to be.  I had the freedom of entering a place where no one knows who I am, where I went to school, and who my parents are.  The possibilities were endless.

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