Memory Mondays: My Move to Rhode Island
Alright, everyone - I'm starting something new this week. In honor of Monday, my most dreaded day of the week, I have decided to start a fun weekly topic that will NEVER leave me speechless. That being said, WELCOME to week one of "Memory Mondays!" Each week, I will reflect on whatever memory comes to me first. I hope you enjoy (and please, feel free to do the same)!
I remember my move to Rhode Island. Actually, I don't remember much of the actual moving part, but I remember that my dad & sister accompanied me and helped to get me settled into my new apartment. The apartment was my first (outside of the "suite" style residence hall I lived in during my Senior year of college). It was on the first floor of a freshmen residence hall at the University of Rhode Island - the live-in responsibilities were part of my job as a Graduate Assistant Hall Director - and had an eat-in kitchen, a small bathroom, a large living space, and a bedroom (trust me, it sounds much more glamorous than it was). I was excited to have a place to call my own, but was terrified to be moving almost 400 miles from home. I did not know anyone who I would be working or taking classes with, and I was afraid that I would hate my job or my graduate program (or both) and that I wouldn't make any friends and end up being a miserable human being. Looking back, I realize how silly it was that I had such irrational fears, but leaving the only home I had ever known was extremely difficult.
I remember that, sometime after we had moved all of my belongings into the apartment, we went back to the hotel and then walked to a nearby seafood restaurant (we were in the Ocean state, after all)! I remember that my sister and I bonded over our mutual admiration for a cute waiter (whose face, of course, has since escaped me) and that I relaxed with a glass of wine. We stayed at the hotel that night, and I felt as though a dark cloud was hovering over me. That cloud, of course, was the fact that my dad & sister would be leaving the next day to go back to NY and I would be left, all alone, in an unfamiliar place.
The night and following morning came & went, and before I knew it we were in the parking lot, standing near our two vehicles andavoiding saying goodbye small-talking about the beauty of the trees and bushes, whose colors were vibrant and unlike anything we had seen in NY. Eventually, though, the time came for our goodbye, which of course was a temporary one but was heartbreaking nonetheless. I hugged my sister and began to cry, because I felt like the entirety of my childhood was escaping me. I hugged my dad, and the tears turned to sobs (which, sadly, is not uncommon for me). Saying goodbye to two of the most important people in my life felt like saying goodbye to everything I had ever known to be true. I suddenly didn't feel ready for this change in my life.
But I was. They drove away, and I drove to my new apartment, my new job, my new school, my new life. I spend a few months adjusting to it all, but before I knew it, I was loving my classes and was meeting some wonderful people who, I know now, were meant to have a place in my life.
That's what I remember.
I remember my move to Rhode Island. Actually, I don't remember much of the actual moving part, but I remember that my dad & sister accompanied me and helped to get me settled into my new apartment. The apartment was my first (outside of the "suite" style residence hall I lived in during my Senior year of college). It was on the first floor of a freshmen residence hall at the University of Rhode Island - the live-in responsibilities were part of my job as a Graduate Assistant Hall Director - and had an eat-in kitchen, a small bathroom, a large living space, and a bedroom (trust me, it sounds much more glamorous than it was). I was excited to have a place to call my own, but was terrified to be moving almost 400 miles from home. I did not know anyone who I would be working or taking classes with, and I was afraid that I would hate my job or my graduate program (or both) and that I wouldn't make any friends and end up being a miserable human being. Looking back, I realize how silly it was that I had such irrational fears, but leaving the only home I had ever known was extremely difficult.
I remember that, sometime after we had moved all of my belongings into the apartment, we went back to the hotel and then walked to a nearby seafood restaurant (we were in the Ocean state, after all)! I remember that my sister and I bonded over our mutual admiration for a cute waiter (whose face, of course, has since escaped me) and that I relaxed with a glass of wine. We stayed at the hotel that night, and I felt as though a dark cloud was hovering over me. That cloud, of course, was the fact that my dad & sister would be leaving the next day to go back to NY and I would be left, all alone, in an unfamiliar place.
The night and following morning came & went, and before I knew it we were in the parking lot, standing near our two vehicles and
But I was. They drove away, and I drove to my new apartment, my new job, my new school, my new life. I spend a few months adjusting to it all, but before I knew it, I was loving my classes and was meeting some wonderful people who, I know now, were meant to have a place in my life.
That's what I remember.
I love this idea! (and your writing:)
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to be able to write down memories like this, and then you'll never forget them.
Thanks, Allie! I appreciate it :)
ReplyDeleteFeel free to steal the idea if you ever want to. Have a good day!