Moving By Drew Sullivan - Original Writing

After being dropped off from dance late at night, I was expecting to walk into a silent house where everyone was asleep. Instead, I walked into my living room to find the rest of my family sitting on the couch with the television off, which was strange for my family. It was clear they were waiting for me to get home, so I sat down too. My mom and dad exchanged a look and a sigh then turned back towards my brother and me. They babbled absently for a few minutes, then, my mom quickly spit out the words, as if ripping off a Band-Aid, "We are moving back to Arizona." There was a brief moment of stunned silence before I burst into tears. I could not imagine why my parents would decide to separate me from my best friends six months before we were supposed to

The campus itself felt comparable to the size of a town. A brief feeling of excitement was overtaken by apprehension. I had never lived on my own before, I was in a new state, and my parents were much further away than a walk down the hallway. These were some of the thoughts that filled my mind at the time. Before they left to head home, we had an exceedingly long and emotional conversation over dinner. They handed me a photo of us all which had a note on the backside. The note summarized their level of confidence, proudness, and despite forthcoming complications, they will always be there for their son. Tears of love ran down each of our faces as we said

My mother sat down with my sister and I, and told us that ultimately, the four of us would have to move because we were being forced to sell our home. I accepted this decision, not comprehending fully how far away I would actually be. I could not grasp the idea that I would be leaving the people I was with since I could walk. Everything I went through and everything I did was with them. All the memories we made on the street would slowly fade, but be kept forever. Moving day, I knew deep down that I had to be strong throughout this new development in my life. I was moving to a place where I didn’t know anyone, where I did not know what school I would be going to, or if I would have neighbors just like the ones in Southington. I climbed into my father's truck, not knowing what would happen from then on. I was surrounded by my all neighborhood friends, all in tears. I remember feeling fearless, ready to take on anything life would throw at me. As one of my close friends walked up to the truck with tears in her eyes, I looked at her with reassurance that everything would be

I moved to Connecticut in the September of 2008 because my Dad had a job transfer. This was around the time that I started the second grade. I was introduced to so many people and they were all so nice to me. Six years later, I made countless friends and started to feel like Connecticut was where I wanted to stay forever. But in December of 2014, my Dad got a phone call from a company in South Jersey and they wanted him to work for them. At first, he worked 3 days in Camden, and the rest of the week in Connecticut. That was difficult though because we did not get to see him as often as we wanted to. My parents then sat my brother and I down and asked us if we wanted to move to South Jersey. I did not know what to think. After six years, I loved living in Connecticut and I wanted to stay there. They told us that it would be a lot easier to move down to Jersey instead of my dad traveling every week. My brother and I both agreed that this is what we are going to have to do. I can still remember that day though. It seemed liked the world was going to a scorching end. At least my world was. I started to tell my friends that

“Where are we going?” She then looked at me and said, “We’re moving to Texas.” Out of all places, Texas? We lived in southern California our whole lives, so moving to Texas was definitely a shock to me. “What about our family and friends?” Her eyes began to water, so I knew talking about it further would only make things worse. Texas. It was stuck in my head and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The more I thought of it, the worse it sounded. The worst part was that it was so sudden, so it didn’t seem real. Because my parents are divorced, I spent the weekends at my dad’s house. He was torn that I was leaving Riverside, which of course meant that weekend visits would turn

Who would have known traveling could be such a hassle? Especially when moving from Wilson, North Carolina to boring Goldsboro. Especially when having strict parents, an annoying sister, a spoiled brother and an innocent me stuffed in a van, just to move only 26.4 miles. Moving cannot be that dreadful, I tried considering to myself. Making new friends and memories are not the worst thing in the world. There was only one slight problem …school. It was fall of third grade and everything was different. From math to English to science, concepts were thrown at me that I was so sure that I had never seen at my previous school. So at first sight of trouble, I turned to my parents, but only to end up with a frustrated me and a very agitated mother.

When I first heard we were moving here, I thought to myself. Why did dad have to take this job? I mean I don’t hate it here. I just hate the fact that I didn’t get to tell most of my friends I was leaving. Although, something good came out of this. I get to see an old friend of mine, at least start something over. This house is nicer than the one before. I still remember the time when mom thought there was a rat in the cabinets, man was she scared.

We were doing all of our tasks perfectly fine now. But, it was time for another family meeting……. we were going to move in two weeks. Disbelief at first, then sadness, then anger, then sadness again.

“We are moving to Arizona. It’s your decision whether or not you come with us.” As a seven year, old girl, this was one of the hardest things to hear from the woman I was supposed to trust most, my mom. I had to make a decision whether or not to move across the country with my mom and a stranger, or move in with my dad and stay near my family. I immediately responded with “I will be staying in Massachusetts”. Although I knew that this decision would flip my world upside down, I didn’t know how much I would personally change because of it. In that moment, I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be seeing my mom for another year. I didn’t know that our relationship would never be the same again. That one sentence changed the whole course of my life. In that split-second decision, I went from a seven-year-old little girl, blind to the reality of life, into a mature young girl forced to swallow the idea of her mother leaving her behind.

When I moved to this city I didn't think that I would be popular or the All-Star Quarterback for my school. We had to move here because of my dad's “business opportunity” that would give our family a lot more money. We were always struggling with money, that’s mostly why mom and dad fought a lot. I was always telling them “let me get a job and I could help”. But they always said “no you are too young and this doesn't concern you.

It was late October, 2011, when my parents told me we’re moving. I didn’t believe them. “What kind of joke is this? This is jaw dropping.“ But later, a sudden coldness hit at my core and I realized that they were serious. More deliberate questions popped in my mind. “Why would we move? What about my friends? Who is going to pay for the house?” These were all questions that initially ran through my jumbled mind. My parents refused to answer my questions. This however, got me extremely angry. How could they force such a change in my life and ignore my questions? My parents were being bitter, not because they were making me move, but because they were completely ignoring my feelings and questions. My opinions, pointless and powerless, meant nothing to them because the choice has already been made. After all, I’m pretty sure no one would like to move to a new country and adapt to a new environment.

My mind began to spin. Why is this happening? Anger and resentment consumed me and I didn’t know how to react. I’d lived in the same house my entire life. My entire friendship base and personal identity was in Mundelein, Illinois. Yet here I was hearing my parents say things like, “better opportunity” and “good for our family” and “beautiful Smoky Mountains”. It sure didn’t feel like any of this was going to be good for me or for my little sister. I was sad, scared and very angry.

“We are moving to America!” my parents announced at the family meeting. My face started to heat up from anger. I didn’t want to leave my friends and the area that I grew up in. Saying goodbye to my friends was really difficult for me, but it was even harder to be the only non-English speaking student in Cupertino, California. Even though I am a shy person, I tried my best to communicate withto my teacher and my classmates, but I couldn’t express my thoughts in a whole new language. All of the frustration and stress caused me to cry, both at home and in my class.

We had been talking about moving to California for about a month, and the prospect of leaving behind my friends, school, and family terrified me. However, I clung to the hope that maybe we wouldn’t have to go in the end, but that didn’t last long. One rainy spring afternoon my parents sat my brother and I down, and excitedly told us that we would be moving to America. My younger brother leapt up from the seat next to me and joyfully danced around the room, but I was not so ecstatic. After my parents put a positive spin on the situation, I didn’t feel quite as reluctant, but I still wasn’t fully on board. Nevertheless, I had little say in the matter as my father’s work required us to relocate, and so that summer we moved to California.

As I lay in bed, I look up at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling above me and try to tune my ears to the loud conversation my parents are having downstairs. I sneak out of bed, tiptoeing barefoot across the cold wooden floor, and quietly drift down the stairs until I get to the last one. I don’t want to get caught eavesdropping, but I have to hear what on earth it is that they’re yelling about. As soon as I begin to strain my ears to hear their words, they become a whisper and my mom sticks her head around the corner and sees my little body sitting on the last stair, with my knees pulled to my chest, innocent big brown eyes glistening.