LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND

Once again (for the third time in a week), I must say "What Up" to my homies here in the Blogger Community. With 2007 being one of the toughest of my life, I really did not have much of a desire to write, especially toward the end of the year when my Mom passed way. However, with 2007 long since rolled over to 2008 and the Summer here (plus with the Celtics winning banner umber 17), I have had some desire to get back into one of favorite hobbies (writing) as of late. Today, With the Celtics euphoria subsiding somewhat, I will attempt to focus on other things besides sports (believe it or not, we do have other things on our mind other than the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics, here in the Boston area) namely, closing one chapter of life, and starting another.

As of August 1st my brother, my friend Dan and I, will be moving together into an apartment, which means my brother and I will be moving out of the place that we have called home, on and off, for the past 15 years. To say that it will be the end of an era is an understatement. For the past 6 months the thought of this move has been on my mind, and I did not think emotionally it would be that big of deal. However as of late, with the preperation getting underway in ernest, I realize how wrong I have been.

A little background in necessary here. My Mom passed away from Cancer last December 14th. Her wish was to not be put into any type of nursing facility, which meant her final days would be spent a home, with the family around, which we all respected. As her condition took a turn for the worse, we all came back home to help care for her (I was living with a friend of mine, closer to Boston), and thus my parent's condominium became home to us all once again. After she passed, and all of the constant bustle of nurses and doctors coming in and out of the apartment stopped, a quietness took over, an eerie calm, if you will. At this point, my brother and I decided to put all of our previous differences behind us (more on that some other time), and try to see if we could live together without killing each other. So far so good on that front.

After the funeral, and all of the other business that must be attended to when a loved one passes on was completed, my brother and I got to work on planning what the immediate future would hold, namely, where were we going to live? We socked away some money that some of our relatives were generous enough to give us, but eventually that was eaten up by bills that the household was very behind on. As the new year came and Winter turned to Spring, it was getting a little tough to make ends meet on our salaries. After putting our heads together we came up with three possible scenarios: 1. We keep plugging away and we stay where we are. 2. We bring in a third person and split the rent and expenses thre ways (the scenario we almost chose, but the one that would have required alot of time consuming work) 3. We pack up and move. The latter is the scenario we chose and after a months long search for an apartment a mutual friend of ours directed us to place that his family owns which is very affordable, and turned out to be the perfect fit for all of us.

So now, after tying up some loose ends with our current landlord (which took longer than anticipated), the process of moving has begun. Upon sorting everything out, throwing things away, and putting other things in a seperate pile to be donated to charity, I realize the memories that have been built in the place over the years. This really hit me when I was going through some old newspapers and magazines that I had saved over this past decade-plus. I though of everything that has happened both locally, and nationally; the sports memories from the last six-plus years. More importantly, I thought of everyone close to me that has come and gone (I lost both of my parents during my time in the apartment), and the friendships I have made during this time period. I took all of this in and realized that I have alot more invested emotionally in that condo that I thought. All things must past and we all must keep moving in life