Twenty Years Ago

"Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of your passage" Pope John 23rd

When I left New York on August 1,1998, I felt equal amounts of excitement and fear.

We left NY around 6:00 AM.

Everything we owned was in the Ryder moving truck and we had the Honda on a trailer hooked up to the truck.

I was at the wheel.  Bob had the map. Jenn in the jump seat.  Our dog was on the floor sound asleep thanks to some med's from the vet.

As we pulled out of Haven Terrace, I was in tears. This house was also next to the one I lived in with my parents from 1970 until I got married in 1982.

Our home for the previous thirteen years grew smaller in the rear view mirror.

I wanted to get on the road early so we could avoid another round of goodbyes with my family. I was leaving them behind too.

I cried most of the way down the Jersey Turnpike.

Driving the truck was nerve wracking.  I kept asking "is the Honda still behind us?"

I did not know how to back up the truck.  I had to remind myself to make sure where ever we stopped I could pull out straight ahead.

Since we left New York, our old home was torn down.  That made me cry.

Fast forward to 2018.

How could it have been twenty years?

What did I learn after the move?

We learned to say M'am or it is Ma'm or is it Ma'am and Sir.

I now love grits, collards, black eyed peas and boiled peanuts.

And I have become a snob about shrimp.  No better way to buy it than out of a cooler behind a shrimp boat that has just docked.  The shrimp do need their heads removed, I do NOT do that part of the prep.

And OMG I learned about college football!!

What part of New York is still with me?

I still say "you guys" no matter the makeup of the group vs the "Y" word.

I still say cawfee, sawce and tawse vs coffee, sauce and toss.

And I still love my NY Yankees and NY Giants.

I started working for Wachovia Bank August 24, 1998.  It was probably the best company I ever worked for in my many years in banking. The people there became not only my friends they became my family. Sadly, Wachovia is no more but the friendships continue.

I have been a TD Bank for 7 years as a manager.  It is not Wachovia but then again I don't think many places are like it was anymore.  I like my job, most days, as so many of us do. TD is a solid company which is great as I have seen so many companies fall by the wayside during my work career.

Jenn finished high school, college and graduate school since we moved here.  She is now in her 7th year working at USC and her 7th year as an instructor for University 101.

We built a house in Columbia that was ours for 17 years.

We sold it last year.

Now the Lowcountry is where we call home.

The twenty years has flown.  In that time, I have seen the world change in so many ways.  And I have changed along with it.

I am now single.

I now no longer assume tomorrow is guaranteed.

I miss the family gatherings I used to take for granted.

I would like the days, weeks, months and years to slow down just a little bit.

And I finally look at writing as a profession not just a hobby.

Although I cannot get back the days in New York.  I do have my memories of the wonderful life I had there.

But South Carolina and especially where I live now is so much more than I ever expected.

Never did this New Yorker think I would embrace this life as much as I have.

I feel blessed and incredibly lucky that all the twists and turns in the roads led me here.

See you next week!

PS a little sign that Fall is heading our way, this arrived today!!