Leaving

Today I feel like I just lost everything.  I gave up my car keys, my little sister will be driving my ladybug (my red Yaris) while I'm gone.  I also am officially no longer a resident of Chicago, and my apartment keys are gone.  I woke up early completely restless, and went for a run to clear my mind a little bit.  I hate running in the suburbs.  There's something about staring at tiny boxes all in a row with electric wires all over the place and views of grocery stores that just make it less relaxing.  I am almost always the only person out running, although I will occasionally find another woman in a matching sweatsuit walking vigorously.

The other day, as my sister and I were packing up all the final pieces from my one bedroom (which somehow filled a massive moving truck), I looked at my empty apartment and said, "I won't live in Chicago again after this." She laughed.  And then she said, "It is so hard to leave - until you leave.  And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world. That's a quote from John Green"

I'm not sure what I was expecting, flashing lights, dancers, sobbing friends, or what, but I thought it would be more "epic" of a moment than it was.  It really was the two of us saying "Did you get it all?" and closing the door.  And now I am here.  Ready to spend the next two weeks antagonizing my family until I move to Boston.

162 Miles Down 153 Miles To Go