26 Years

Change is hard for me.

I spent 26 years in this house.

I grew up with the kids in the neighborhood, and stayed long after they left.

My elementary, middle, and high school are all within five minutes of the house. I rode my bike to elementary school every day, and it was the highlight of my day to be one of the only girls that could keep with the pack of rowdy bike boys.

I’ve watched neighborhood businesses go down and new ones come up. I can walk to stores, and the store managers know our names. I’ve worked within 20 minutes of home in either direction since I started working in 2014. In fact, my first job was the comic book shop in the shopping center before the division. Right next to the old movie theater where I found my love for film.

I had my first kiss on my doorstep, and plenty of heart breaks along the way.

Mom and I weathered serious storms here, both literal and metaphorical. We blast Donna Summers when getting served, and hunkered down plenty of tornados.

The attic over the car-port was my clubhouse for a time, and the pool gave birth to my sporty nature.

The five different parks in the area always made sure I had somewhere to practice soccer, cheerleading and nature hikes.

Family members lived with us for a brief stint, and a step dad was here for awhile, but it always came back to mom and I.

Garland is all I've known, and I know it like the back of my hand. I’ve been surrounded by 250,000 people for 26 years.

Now we're moving to Nevada, Texas, which has a population size of...... 870 people, and the city itself is only two square miles. There's one store within walking distance, and it's a gas station. There's a tiny park, and a tiny church, but aside from that it's one small neighborhood. To say it's a massive change doesn't even begin to encompass how much of an adjustment period I'm gonna need. But they say you can see the stars out in the country, and while change is terrifying, at least I know the stars are the same.