So it's the last week in your hometown. You're packing everything up and starting to figure out how to put 18 years of stuff into a dorm room. It's harder than it looks by the way, but as you start packing up this part of this life, you start to have a lot of thoughts.
The first ones you start to have are about family. As you start putting things up, you find old things that trigger memories. Those old pictures from Disney World or the water park stir up memories from family vacations. You find the old Nintendo 64 that you and your siblings used to play for hours. Family has always been such a big thing, and now you are realizing that you are about to leave them. Your parents are no longer waking you up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and biscuits on a Saturday morning. That thought hits you.
The next ones that hit you are about school and all the things you've done over the years. When you find those old ballet slipper from when you actually used to dance like 14 years ago you think about your recital that you were so scared to go out on stage. You find the crown you won in your middle school beauty walk and think about how big of a deal it was at the time and now how it is collecting dust in the top part of your closet. Then as you are packing everything up out of your closet, you see your graduation cap and gown that you have stuck in the back and you realize that you actually did it and that you are completely done with high school. Then all the memories of high school, especially senior year, come flooding back to you. From the first day you walked into your high school to the big rivalry game to your senior prom. They hit you like a rock. The emotions flood into you.
As you wrap up your life in your hometown, everything makes you think. When you go get your final paycheck and give back the key to the only job that you have ever worked, you start to realize that you are about to leave this place. Though you might be extremely happy to get out of a boring town and get to college where you really start to have some fun you realize that you are actually kind sad to leave the familiar setting that you've always been in.
Seeing your friends for the last time before you go is probably one of the hardest things to do. You talk about all the things you have done together. You have to leave their families that have more than likely treated you like their own. They know your favorite color and birthday. They have been there for you like your own parents. So while you all look back on all the good times and laugh about that time you both locked your keys in each others cars you silently hate the fact that you no longer get to have your best friend 10 minutes from you.
So while you are packing up your life and moving to Starkvegas, know that that little tear that you shed is mutual. You're not alone.
