Day 1

I spent almost 27 hours driving my little Honda across the country. My butt went numb, my cat slept on the dashboard, and the gas tank was always low. 70mph the whole way with the scenery racing by, yet my thoughts were stuckstuckstuck on you. We talked daily. We talked for hours. After we hung up, I continued to hear our conversation in my head.

Sometimes I feel like I have come here to gain independence. Sometimes I think that I have uprooted my life in order to figure out who I am. It even crossed my mind to say to myself that I am doing all of this because of my youth and I’ll never have the chance to do this again.But mostly I am just running from inevitable heartbreak. I couldn’t stay around while I broke apart.This isn’t supposed to be a sad story, though. I’ve only cried once since you left me there, wrapped up in blankets and memories. My family hugged me. My Nanny offered comfort instead of advice. My dad sent sunflowers to my new apartment. They’re happy and cheery on the dining room table. This story has new characters and chapters, new bedroom furniture and street names. I’m going to get lost a few times. I’m going to say something that people don’t say outside of Texas. And I’m going to learn a lot about relying on myself for once. It’s a happy story, see?

Day 1 is going well. I got around town, bought groceries, sat in Starbucks, and bought you a gift. I unpacked another box, decided to buy long curtains, and then I did a load of laundry. Many things have followed me from Texas. But no matter how hard I try, I’ll never ever ever be able to get rid of


laundry.

True story (and a happy one, remember?)