My PARENTS MOVED!

My parents have moved.
My parents moved. 

I am not quite sure how to best write that. I have never had to write it before. I am in an awkward state of sentimentality and simultaneously, pure excitement. Yesterday at quarter to 8 in the evening, we closed up the house on Neptune Drive which was place where my childhood unfolded and my adulthood was rooted. For 35 years, my parents have lived in a small but cozy little house which was always very clean and tidy. I have an overwhelming amount of memories attached to those walls and thus, I have an overwhelming amount of sentiment that continued to gush out, mostly out of my eyes, periodically yesterday evening.

For some people parents moving has always been part of their lives, sometimes because of the work they did; others because of circumstances. My parents never moved. Well, other than when they left their homeland Cuba, and  then later left Spain. No biggie. They have lived in Coquina Key for the 40 years that they have lived in this country. As we packed things up, I can't help but think that even today with my own home, the best sleep I have ever gotten was in my tiny childhood bedroom. Before my parents had central air I had an individual air unit which was always on full blast, so the room was cold closer to freezing, dark as a night and I had a bundle of blankets which allowed for the best sleep of your life. Not to mention the ever present feeling of security of being home.

I also found a giant rock that a old neighbor friend and I had found one in my early teens near the old Publix shopping center. I liked the rock so much we borrowed a shopping cart and rolled it home and then took the cart back. A silly memory but what it reminds me of is the people that have surrounded us for all these years. For a neighborhood that in so many ways has always been ever changing, we have had the same direct neighbors for over 25 years. Some for longer. People came over the last few days and cried on the shoulders of my mother in disbelief that they would no longer be there; there in that place.

Where did they move to? Well about two blocks way from me, in a perfect little condo where they no longer have to worry about aging roofs, giant trees and perpetual lawn mowing. We will get to eat dinner together more, Eliot and I will get to go the moves more, my girls will someday ride their bikes there, on Halloween my parents will stay late and give out candy. I am so deeply thankful that they will continue to be part of our daily lives even as my girls grow older. This move is such an amazing blessing for me, but for them too.

My parents have moved!
My parents moved!