The Other End of Saying Goodbye

So I am experiencing something for the first time this week. A friend is moving away from me. This is such a foriegn feeling. In my life, I have always been the one to leave, the one waving from the car window, headed to my next destination. Being on this end is very different and honestly, I am not sure I care for it much. When I moved to Chicago and started working at The Job, I met a great chic and in the short 9 months we have known each other…well let’s just say she makes me laugh and I will miss her terribly (I don’t want to go any deeper, as I will get sad and I want this post to be thought provoking, not mush).

In all of the years, I have been the one saying “I’ll keep in touch!” (with complete intentions to do so) however, I have always focused on the new adventure in front on me. I do not believe in wallowing or focusing on the past, it is what it is, the past. I have always been someone who looks to the future, and hopefully my friends from all over the world will still be a part of it. But now that a good friend is waving goodbye to me from the car window (and giving the City the middle finger ;), it makes me understand the sadness that I now vaguely remember seeing on the faces of so many friends that I have left over the years. Not that I am devoid of feelings, of course I have missed my friends and acknowledged their sadness at my departure. But let’s be honest, I have been too focused on the new chapter in my life, the unwritten pages unfolding in front of me, to spend adequate time on the sadness my friends felt. And for this apologize. My friends are very dear to me, I think of them fondly and miss them often. But I am living my new adventure and I know they are continuing with theirs.

So, no, being on this side of goodbye does not feel very well. And it has definitely opened my eyes and my heart to the frowns, tears, and loss I have caused along the way. But you know what? My previous experience allows me to be able to say this and truly mean it: I wish my friend all of the happiness in the world. As she leaves her Chicago friends behind, I don’t want her to focus on the sadness on their faces, but instead on the new chapter and unwritten pages in her life.

Ouch!

First of all, I am sorry. I have been MIA for a couple of weeks and haven’t posted like I promised I would. To be honest, I haven’t felt much like writing. We bought a new bed and it was delivered a few weeks ago and apparently between the platform bed and the memory foam mattress, there was not enough support for my back. After about a week, I was messed up! I was in so much pain, I couldn’t sleep in the bed (even after buying a nice new mattress!), I couldn’t sit in my desk chair at work. I just simply wanted to cry! I was in pain and so exhausted with no end in sight. I think the most upsetting result was the fact that I had to walk my St. Patty’s Day 5k instead of running it. This was very upsetting because I felt like I had done so well at training over the last 8 weeks. Not that I would have been able to run the entire thing (thanks Mr. Winter for sticking around and making it impossible to run and breath at the same time!) but I think I would have done a lot better in this 5K than I did in my first. I know, I know, at least I was able to complete the 5K, but I was still upset. Thank goodness that, after many Icy Hot nights, Salonpa’s heat patches, daily stretching, much more medication than I care to take, and wonderful (though painful) nightly massages from The Husband…I am FINALLY feeling better! Still not 100% but at least I don’t want to cry every time I move now. Other than daily stretching, I haven’t worked out at all since walking the 5K last Saturday. Though I hated taking a week off, I thought it might be better to take a little time off so that everything could heal without any added strain. I am hoping to be able to have a short run this weekend and then get back into my routine Monday. Fingers crossed anyway!

Happy 1 year Chicago!!!

I cannot believe that it has already been a year since we first arrived in our uhaul truck, ready to live our dream of being Chicagoens. On one hand, it’s really hard to remember what life was like before we moved here. It seems as if we have been living this lifestyle forever. But when I think back 12 months ago, and that feeling of “wow, we are actually doing this!” it seems like only yesterday. There was a moment, crossing a bridge on the way into the city that I thought “what in the world are we doing?” But the moment we stood in our apartment, surrounded by boxes and a cat who was wondering where in the world she was….I knew, looking at The Husband and the happiness on his face, we had made the right decision.

It is so nice to be so happy with our city lifestyle. I know not many people understand our love for it, but it really fits The Husband and I. While walking on the lakefront trail yesterday (yes with my Starbucks in hand because it was ooh soo cold, brrr!), I thought about how The Husband and I have seemed to come into our own in the last year. Not that we have never been ourselves until now, but there was always a missing piece, something that we continued to look and strive towards. And with moving to Chicago, it’s as if we have found it. We do so much in the city; hockey games, theatre, concerts, baseball games, shopping, trying new restaurants, blues clubs, ….well you get the picture. The Husband loves working from home, I have been lucky to find a terrific company in The Loop to work for, we still love the apartment and our neighborhood; everything really has come together.

Tonight, we are going out to a celebratory dinner at Grand Lux Cafe, because that is where we ate lunch that first day after unloading the moving truck. We will raise our glasses to our good fortune, to Chicago, and most of all…to ourselves for making it happen!!