Driving back from a weekend in Illinois, I realized I was making the same journey I’d made almost exactly 10 years ago.
In 2006, my parents helped me pack up almost everything I owned so I could try out life in a new city at a new job.
I rented an apartment that was across Dodge Street from the 49er bar. The night after we’d unloaded our trailer, the bar was loud and woke me up. I got up from my twin bed and looked out through the blinds.
My cousin who’d come along to help shifted on his air mattress. “Is everything ok?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m just wondering if I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
He laughed and reassured me.
This Sunday Homaha-bound, my car carried a few boxes filled mostly with keepsakes. It seems I didn’t bring quite everything I owned with me all those years ago (there are a few more boxes to bring next time!). And now I’m a homeowner with room to house everything-everything, so it’s only fair that my trinkets come with me rather than live forever in the Store Room — the name my mom gave to my old bedroom. Thankfully, this includes fun belongings like Fancy Penguin, a stuffed animal I won from a raffle in first grade.
The place I live inside Omaha is but one thing that’s changed over these 10 years. I lived in four other places before this one, with three different people.
I’ve had good friends move to town, and several leave. In fact, the very week of my anniversary, Omaha lost two of the very first people I knew here — dear friends with whom I’ve seen some shit and for whom I’ll always be available, despite the distance to their new, opposite coasts. And that’s what I have to remind myself whenever a loved one moves away: I’ve got a new place to visit; my love is spreading around the world as I’m connected to these new places by the people who have a piece of my heart.
I know that’s corny, but I like corny. And another thing that’s changed over the years is that I’ve embraced who I am and what I want.
I’m thankful for this city that I’ve called home for 10 years. I’m thankful for the house I’ve lived in for two months, and the other homes I’ve had and shared. I’m thankful for finding my beloved partner. I’m thankful for rediscovering old friends, including Fancy Penguin. And for I’m thankful for the many people I’m privileged to know, the community I’ve made, in Omaha and all over.