Packing up memories

Frank and I spent the better part of this afternoon and early evening packing boxes. Last week our new neighborhood let us know that our closing date is Friday, April 8. We screamed like 12-year-olds at a Justin Bieber concert and then quickly realized that we needed to spring into action. Yes, I did pack some boxes during my Spring Break, however to put it mathematically, the boxes only came out to about 1/12 of our condo.(Can't rush things - -  If you need to hear a funny story, I'll tell you about the day I moved out from my apartment the day I graduated from college. It involves my sister, a closet, and an 80s prom dress). 

Anywho... I called several movers on Monday to get quotes and our mind was made up when I remembered a former student of mine's dad has a moving company. He came over Wednesday night, gave us the word, and we've been packing and running logistics ever since. 

As I stood in the kitchen tonight, carefully packaging up the china Frank and I received as gifts for our wedding, I looked over at Frank as he was doing the same thing. All the other times in my life that I have moved (thankfully only 3 times; my parents still live in the house I grew up in), it never meant as much as this move. Each move previous was a step up - my first post-college apartment with a roommate, then my first apartment where I lived totally alone (and savored every minute I was there), then to this condo with Frank. Each time I was giddy with excitement because the other places meant nothing to me except a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. 

But this condo - for as many times as I have rolled my eyes, screamed in frustration and shoved things into the backs of closets due to lack of space (and believe me, these times rank into the millions) - this condo was my first home with Frank. Our first home as a family. We came here the day after our wedding and watched the first season of Dexter non-stop laying next to each other on a tiny little couch, so happy and content with the decision to make each other our life partner. We picked out new furniture, new flooring, a new A/C unit, a new kitchen and decided on paint colors - just like what real adults do. 

And now we're packing it all up. The biggest memory that tugs on my heart strings is Little Miss Magic. I spent hours getting her room ready, hours imagining what she would look like, and hours dreaming of my plans for her. All here, in this little condo. She came home from the hospital to this condo. I carried her over the threshold in the blanket that my mom made for her. 

I knew it moving would be hard, but I didn't think it would be this hard. We're off to add to our memories by making new memories in a another home, built just for us.