Life Update: A new chapter

Gentle Reader,

I am writing to you amid piles of moving boxes. Leaving a place with memories both good and bad is bittersweet.At fifty, I am starting over. Part of me is keening.  Part of me is excited for the new place we'll be moving to, and the new friends, opportunities, and experiences I'll have there.

Moving isn't new to me. I've had to do it many times. First, leaving the small town I was from to seek education and work in a larger city. Then, big moves from Pennsylvania to D.C., and later Baltimore, for work. Another big move to Charlotte, NC with my ex, my firstborn, and my late cat for a career opportunity for my ex. Then the BIG MOVE, 21 years ago, when he landed a gig with a big tech company on the west coast in a town called Redmond, on the Seattle Eastside suburbs. That one changed my life in the best ways possible. I made my friends of over twenty years here, raised my kids here, and became part of a community.

While part of me grieves the house and era I'm leaving behind, I'm not too broken up. This is a little move to another town in the same area.

So, when I write characters starting over, characters with resilience, and characters building community, it's from a place of experience.  I just wish I had Jada or Phyr's planeswalking ability. This magicless mundane will have to rent a moving truck. 

Best wishes,
T.J. Deschamps