Now that's what I needed

I'm out west, apartment hunting, and so far life is tiring but good. I'm optimistic about my current options, but since nothing is finalized yet I don't want to go too far out on a limb describing any of them. I'm in denial about the reality that Cleo won't be coming out here with me, but other than that, I'm feeling good about the community I'll be moving in to. While hunting I'm staying with an old friend and new coworker, who shares her house with the kind of community of friends I remember from my days at Belmar with AWB and PC. The kinds of people who hug me tightly and say, "I'm glad we're going to be friends." I like, and need, demonstrative people. Much as I like my crowd back in atlanta, and much as I'm going to miss them, I have to be honest about the fact that a lot of my core community move on last year or the year before.

My current roommate is awesome, and it is sad to be leaving her, but the other night we had a little impromptu gathering at our place, and lovely though it was, I had to look around the room and think, these are her friends, and this is their time. As it should be. But it reminded me with a pang of nostalgia of my first year here - with the boys and all the other chemistry and public health nerds, working our little butts off, but also spontaneously staying up nights drinking and talking. We don't do that as much, as we all start growing up and having 'jobs' and families. Which is as it should be, and as it always inevitably was going to be.

I guess I'm just saying that there's this pleasant, organic sort of ending happening to my time in the south. And I'm grateful to be moving to a place with a safety net of people.

Which brings me to A, about whom I've been thinking today. She just landed in Germany and is having a tough time of it. I'm not trying to rub in how great my set of circumstances is, just acknowledging how big and scary life changes are, and how doubly big and scary they are without a safety net. I know she'll do all right, but I hope she finds someone soon who will say they're glad to be her friend.