It is the only place Josiah and I had ever lived together. We bought our first house in New York, and had our first baby there.
But more than just a place of firsts, it was somewhere that was our own. None of our family lived nearby, and we had the pleasure of getting to show them around what had somehow become our little corner of the world.
Our summers were full of adventures as we drove all over the northeast, dreaming about where we wanted to retire and what kind of house we wanted {a cottage on a lake...} and the things we'd do in our spare time.
We explored museums, state capitols, and even dirt roads. We camped in our {private} back yard. We swam at the lake. We cross country skied in the winter. We walked the local trail almost every night in the summer.
We lived in our dream cottage. It.was.ours. I painted all the rooms any and every color I felt like, and had matching curtains on every window.
We had our ups and downs, sunshine and {lots of} snow, and now it's over. We've moved on. But a little bit of me longs to head up north one more time, and have things be settled the way they once were. However, there's no going back, I must embrace the new adventure ahead {and go have a cup of coffee with my mom...that will make everything better}, and look for all the things I love here. Sigh...change is not for me.
P.S. Please note that my nostalgia has not caused me to forget that: a) we were an 8+ hour drive or flight from our wonderful families, and b) it snowed like crazy for almost half of the year... I may miss it like there, but I don't think I want to move back.
Oh, it's so hard to leave a place that has become home! It stays a part of us. My first apartment will always seem like my real first home. It was mine, even though I was a renter, that was all mine. I lived there alone, and I did what I wanted. I still miss it and it's been years now. So I understand. I hope that you will come to love Virginia just as much though. (I do!)
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