Ever since I was a little girl, my family and I were like a super bouncy ball. We would bounce around from house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, and sometimes town to town. We would bounce far and wide, never being able to stay in one place. I mean, does a round ball ever stay in one place? If you put something in its way, sure, but if nothing is in the way then it is sure just to keep on rolling. That is surely what we did.

Sometimes it was fun. When I think back to it, moving was the sucky party. I was the oldest so I always had the biggest responsibility. Normally it was watching my sisters, but then other times I would have to carry the heaviest things. Then I thought that it was unfair, but now, I realize I was just weak ... most of what I carried was super light! After the moving was done and there were just piles of bags and boxes to unpack, the fun times began. Some of my favorite memories of living with my father and moving around were right after the move. I sometimes reminisce about the times where me and my two younger sisters would sit with my dad in oversized t-shirts and watch movies, or just sit around on mattresses that lay across the floor and laugh, eat pizza and drink a soda that we would refer to as “Bubble Gum” soda. Although those moments were some of the best, they did happen more often than they were supposed. That is what made things lonely

I personally blame the moves for my incapability to jump into social situations. Since we moved around so much I was never able to make friends around the neighborhood. If I was able to make friends, we would move soon after. I did stick with the same school from first grade all the way to my graduation, so there were my friends from there. Even though it was hard to actually make them because I was always scared that they too would get tired of me or the way I was and roll away, just as my family did with the places that we lived.

Some of you may be wondering … okay what is the point of this little rant? Or, maybe you are thinking “What all of a sudden made her think of moving?” Well if you must know, I am currently in the process of my third move this year. Yes, that is a lot, and no they are all not my choice, but in situations like this, I do think about the old times and how I go through them then and try to comfort myself. I am not always going to be the bouncy ball that I was raised to be, but for now I guess that I am still pursuing my nature. I do however know that this move is going to last for a while. For those of you that have moved before, recently or not, you know the pain of moving. When I was in my new apartment alone, I thought about what I would be doing if I were with my father and everything really was okay with him and our relationship. Then I think regardless of the bad times, I would not be the same without them. For all of you that have or will be going through the struggle of a move, just try to remember the happy times-- that will be all you need to get through.