Well, it’s finally over. I just turned in my apartment keys, ending a chapter of my life that spanned two years. Yesterday, on my favorite holiday, Halloween, I locked the apartment doors for the last time. I gave my neighbors a hug (the ones I like) and drove away.
I feel like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I no longer have to pad my walls because my neighbors are too loud. I can open the windows without worrying about the cigarette smoke from the people in the next building. I will no longer scrape up my car when I try to park. I won’t experience a minor earthquake every time someone goes up and down the stairs. I won’t hear the kids in the building throwing tantrums or see them using my car as a slide. I will no longer drive past the crazy cat lady’s house or the drug house on the corner of the street. I don’t have to use headphones in order to hear my TV over the neighbors’ loud music.
Two years over and done with. Many memories, some spent with the two men I dated, are safely stored in my past. I have let go. And six car loads to the Goodwill serve as proof. I even finally let go of Big Blue, my blue recliner that I have had for 10 years.
It truly is a fresh start. I am in a rental house, in a different city and with a whole new set of memories waiting for me. And for me, last night was the perfect way to begin this new chapter of my life, Halloween. I now live in a neighborhood where kids feel safe enough to trick-or-treat. I almost ran out of candy for the first time in . . . I don’t even know how many years. And even though this move is temporary, it couldn’t have happened at a better time in my life. I needed to let go of the past and look toward a new future. And that is exactly what I am doing!
Define Normal 