Looking Back

I know that all of you just love my poker/life postings, but today will be a deviation. Today, the room will get sort of dusty and my allergies will act up, as I talk about finally moving away from the place that I've called home for a while: TFS. A little under 4 years ago, I was getting ready to move in. As of 8am on August 8th, I need to have everything out. And actually, it'll be on August 2nd that I'll have everything cleaned up, since I actually fly out to NY for my cousin's wedding on the 3rd.

While it's amazing the amount of stuff that I've accumulated over the years, what's even more amazing are the memories that have been stored up in this apartment, both good and bad. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for all of those memories, the memories of the people that have crashed on the couch, the people that we would cram in here for Illini football and basketball, the people that I've fed in my kitchen, the people who have let me down, the people that have drank beers on the balcony while we grilled, the people that have been over here drafting for fantasy football, the people who I've let down, the people with whom I've prayed and hoped with, the people that have been over here for poker night, the people that I've been angry with, and the people that I've loved. You know who you are.

I've been going around, taking down pictures, putting away apartment mascots, and just slowly getting myself ready for the next stage of life. I've been getting better at making transitions. Moving out to NY from Cincy was a little on the slow side, but it worked out great. The school experience was a little slow, but again, it went well. I hit the ground running when I did my co-op stint in Louisville. And I had a lot of momentum when I came back to school after that. For the last couple years, I haven't been honest with myself. I haven't really seen it as a true transition until very recently.

And really, I haven't embraced the freedom that a life transition lets you have. You get to sort of reinvent the wheel. You get to remake yourself so that you can get a little closer to where you want to be. In all honesty, anytime we stay still for too long, the environment sort of expects you to remain the way that you are. If you change drastically, you end up skirting the expectations that people have for you, possibly alienating people and leaving yourself open to bad situations. But when you're facing a transition, none of the outside pressures are there.
So what will change for me? I'm not sure. But I get to have some time to figure it out. If the 27th birthday wasn't enough of a sign to me, then having to move out of the place that I've called home for 4 years certainly is.

-Chairman