Bye, Bye Charleston

I have cried two times when moving, once when leaving the Laguna Beach apartment and Saturday.  Don't get me wrong, I cried when we moved out of our college house, but it was while everyone else was leaving, one by one as the girls left I cried, but by the time Danell, Caitlin and I were ready to hit I-90 west, we were all so emotionally and physically exhausted (our house needed a lot of cleaning, not to mention graduation, the end of some of the best years of my life, and just change) that crying as we drove away from 221 was the last thing on our minds.

But Saturday, as we walked through our empty house that we filled with so many memories in the short time that we lived there, tears rolled down my cheeks.  As we drove away from the house, more tears.  And, as we said goodbye to our friends, Matt and Steph, who we've grown so close to in the past 9 months (even though we knew them in Seattle as well), tears again.  I'm glad Steph held it together because had she started crying, I would have had a full meltdown in the parking lot of Papa Zuzu's.

The last few days were so hectic, but I tried to soak it all in.   Charleston had been good to us, and I can't pinpoint the reason why I was so sad, but I was.  Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to be in Montana, to be in the same time zone as my best friends (or only one different instead of 2 or 3), to be closer to our families, and to finally be settled.  No more college furniture, knowing that we won't have to move, and that we can actually start to settle is, well, settling for my mind, but Charleston was so much for us.  Yes, Blake and I met, fell in love, got engaged and married in Seattle, but Charleston is really where we started our lives together as a unit.  We were on our own when we got there, just the two of us, and we really had to rely on each other.  We got to know each other, our ins and outs, our routines and how we worked together as a married couple.  Moving across the country was one of the best things we did for our relationship, I think that it brought us closer and made us stronger as we move into different parts of life, was it always perfect, no, but we worked through it, we had to, it was just us.  It really solidified what we already knew, we really do like each other, as people, and are the best of friends.

Of course, we had other friends to help us, we weren't all alone.  And we made some great ones.  The supper club group we had in Charleston are some friends that we will have throughout time.  We ate together, all got married within the same year, and just enjoyed each others company.  As odd as it is, we weren't the only couple that ended up moving.  Of the three original supper club couples, only one will be there after May 15th.  It gives us a great excuse to all get together again!  Lunch dates downtown will be missed.  Matt and Steph will be missed (although, with there track record we should see them in Antelope in about 9 months :)...), they were friends from Seattle and in the 9 months they have lived in Charleston they have become our go to people.  We see them for dinners, outings, golf, and just plain fellowship and friendship.  They were the first friends of ours that Bennett met, and it will always be remembered.  Our lives have been moving in parallel directions and it made it very easy to just continue our friendship, hopefully they end up moving west soon so that we will see more of them, and their little nugget to be!

Lastly, Charleston gave us the best souvenir ever.  It will always be special because I literally spent half of my time in Charleston pregnant, and Bennett will always know that he was born in that city, during this wonderful time in his Mom and Dad's life.  Hopefully he will cherish that fact as much as we do, and be proud to tell the story.  It gives us an even greater excuse to visit again, and show him all the things that we did while he was growing, and where he came home to for the first time.

So, as I sit in Montana, and ponder a different life than what we had, I mourn slightly for Charleston.  I know that I would not be saying this as much were it two months from now and I was a hot, sweaty, sticky mess that couldn't go outside, but I will always remember what Charleston meant for us, how special it was, and the life that Blake and I created there.

The Last Supper (Club)

Our cute little house as we were driving away

(we have a family picture too,  I will upload it later!)