........We took the time to move the last of our personal items from our NYC apartment this past week. There wasn't a ton inside, as we had rented the big stuff; but there was enough to make a full morning of it.........
.......When we moved out 4 years ago and rented the place to a tenant, we were leaving life as we knew it. We said goodbye to friends and our urban life that we had known for a decade and headed for suburbia. The decision to move has been great and we love our life in CT. However, there was a part of us that still considered ourselves "city people" since we still owned our place and knew we always had the option to go back. However, our family isn't at a phase we can go back, so when we left the apartment this week; we left it for good.......
.......This time, we also said goodbye to all of the memories those walls held. That was our home as newly weds. It was the place that housed reunions when Stefan moved to Europe for 6 months and we each took turns commuting for bi-weekly visits. That was the apartment that held tons and tons of flowers after we lost our first baby and we were the saddest we have ever been. That was the apartment that housed hundreds and when I say hundreds, YES- hundreds of visitors that came to stay with us over the course of 10 years.....so many feasts and dinners and tons of laughter with old and new friends......the apartment walls are where I brought home my first three babies and learned how to be a parent on the fly.....sleepless nights, playdates, birthday parties, potty training, etc.....it also reminds me of bedbugs, lost mice and dead rats inside the walls, too......all NYC commonalities I can never move far enough away from........
......I pray that the new owners have as much love and as much fun in the apartment as we had. It truly is the end of the an era and we are so blessed that for the last several months, we have had a place to take our kids as a staycation and experience some fun weekends in the city! The timing is perfection, as God's timing can only be.......old doors closed with the hope and possibility of new roads to be paved.....new year ahead, new chapters to be opened, new pages to be turned.....so long, NYC. You gave us an experience we will forever be grateful for...........
Xx