2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Everybody does it... Moving prepares students for ultimate transition
By Blair Bryant Nichols on 2/1/07
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A couple of years later, we would move back to the same suburb an hour north of the Windy City, and the transition back to the same school after only a two-year absence would prove to be just as trying as leaving in the first place.
When my father announced we'd be moving to Greenville, S.C. for my last two years of high school, I decided I wouldn't anticipate this move with dread. Instead I accepted the chance to move on and reinvent myself.
These periods of change and transition not only prepared me for leaving home for college but also for the ultimate transition into adulthood.
Something I have only recently considered is that perhaps this scar tissue, a reminder of painful separation from friends and loved ones formed at a young age, is in some way responsible for my eagerness to quickly detach myself from relationships.
This weekend I became enamored with an idea: Going out of business! Everything must go!
I never thought I would be the type to coolly dispense with friends or lovers, having worked to maintain friendships from previous moves. But over the last few months, I've seen more than one ex tossed into the digital trashcan, the victims of AIM, Facebook and cell phone deletion.
Though some of my old friends' new relationships were first met with shock and derision, they are now secretly celebrated for the freedom they have afforded my schedule and the lack of guilt for my future plans.
As another of male friends paired off this weekend, I can't help but think that the universe is trying to make my transition all the easier, locking doors that once seemed possible to open and tying knots in ropes that seem poised to fray. I used to hold on to every friend in stock, but with no inventory left to buy or sell, another market must be sought out.
If everyone - except those you are determined to drag with you into your indiscernible dating and shopping future - is too distracted with their current paramour to notice your departure, can there be pain or sense of loss at your absence?
Perhaps some day down the line when their lover doesn't thrill them the way he or she once did and the memories of consistent fun and friendship you shared glows brighter than ever before, the absence will be felt.
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