When I was younger, I had always wondered what it would feel like to move into a different house located in a different town surrounded by different neighbors. I would ask myself questions like: “How would I rearrange my room?” or “What color would I paint my bedroom walls?”

However, I never took into account all of the memories made with family and friends that have been created and would have been left behind in that house if my family ever decided to relocate. Now that my family is in the final stages of moving out of our first and only home, I cannot fathom the thought of saying goodbye to the house that has helped shape me into the person that I am today.

I have lived in the same house, in the same town, neighbored by the same people, for the entire 19 years of my life. When I first found out that my family had made plans to move, I was upset. The thought of leaving the only house that I called have ever called home, terrified me.

To me, this house is more than a house. It was home. It is the place family gathered to share laughs, smiles, and celebrated holidays and birthdays. It is the place where all of my friends got together to have bonfires, jailbreak parties, and sleepovers. This house holds the memories of my childhood. This house has been my safe haven and the thought of leaving tugs at my heart strings. But, as time went on, I realized that maybe it is time for a change. It is time for a new little girl to move into my bedroom and create her own memories with her family and friends that she will cherish forever.

Seeing everything packed up into boxes in the back of moving trucks will be a strange sight, but as I look back at my once was home, I will be sure to say “thank you.”