So why was it so easy? Am I hard-wired cold or have I been programmed to easily let go of personal connections? I hope it's neither.
I was born in Miami Florida and at the age of two my parents moved to the little white-trash town of Porter Texas. At the age of 11 we moved a few miles away to ritzy Kingwood Texas. Though the move was just miles up the street, it might have well between a thousand miles away. New friends, new ward, new schools, new lifestyle, all new. Though I was sad to leave old friends, it was the first move I could remember and I took it as it came. Just two years later we moved to Honolulu Hawaii. I can still remember thinking that my parents were just cruel to be doing this to me. Upon arriving in Hawaii I knew I wasn't in Texas anymore. Complete culture shock when I was told to call my parents friends "aunt and uncle", was called "howlie" by the natives, cops were "oinka's", and then received my first beat down for apparently looking too closely at a "Hawaiian Princess".
About a year later we made another move, Denver Colorado. Sunny beaches of Hawaii to the sunny ski slopes of Colorado. Frankly I was happy to get out of Hawaii. The Colorado kids treated me like a rock-star as I was the bleach blonde kid from sunny Hawaii. Hoping this was our last move I dug in with a few good friends, turned sixteen, got my license, and spent weekends on the ski slopes trying to master the art of the slalom. I should have known better.
After two years in Colorado we moved to a town outside of Phoenix named Ahwatukee. Difficult at best. Though I quickly made friends in Arizona, the real damage had been done. I decided to never look back. This caused too much pain, too many hard feelings, and left me spending countless hours playing video games trying to escape the real world. Each move to this point had left behind friends. Making new friends was hard enough but the friends left behind was what caused the greatest heartache.
You guessed it, no surprise, within two years were back to Porter Texas.
The move was easy. It was expected. What else could be expected? This was my new life. Within six months I changed High Schools for my final year as a Senior at Kingwood High School.
At 19 I left to Mexico to serve a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Upon returning home, my parents had yes, you guessed it, moved back to Arizona. At this point the moves were a blur and really meant little to me as I was heading out on my own, to chart my own course in life and decide for myself where I would live.
The most difficult of moves to this point had it's unexpected blessing; it was at Kingwood High School that I met Cindy. Upon returning from my mission we met up at BYU and just five months later we were married. We moved into a little apartment like most college kids and shortly after bought a little house in Gilbert AZ. We had three kids and two job changes in the six years we lived in that home. Finally the home couldn't contain our growing family any longer . With more kids on the way we moved 8 miles east to S/E Mesa. The Mesa house was our for the last seven years.
In the seven years we lived in Mesa our family grew to five children, I went through three career changes (Police Officer for Mesa PD, Sales/Marketing manager for Oce North America, Sales Manager and Perkinson Reprographics), I found my passion for cycling, experienced remarkable church callings, and made friends with neighbors that I consider family. It feels like the only home I remember having.
So why the move? This blog is not about the why so I'll keep it short; the AZ economy was in the tank and after three pay cuts the need to look elsewhere for employment was necessary. When a large firm offered me a position with them in their San Antonio/Austin markets we felt it was an answer to our prayers. We took the offer, sold the house, and made the move.
It happened so fast it's like a dream. Frankly I don't remember ever thinking about how painful it could be to leave friends and family behind. After all, I have become good at good-bye's.
And here we are today; five kids and a beautiful wife in the new to us landscape of San Antonio TX. Work is work, church is church, neighborhoods are neighborhoods, and friends are irreplaceable. I'd do almost anything to have it as it once was. I miss my neighbor Dan and his remarkable family, I think often of my family and their unwavering love, I hope the families I came to love and care for in my ward are doing well, and I dream of finding a way to be with them all again. It turns out that some moves are harder than others. It turns out that I'm not so good at good-bye's after all.
