MOVING TO VIRGINIA FROM FLORIDA By: Ryan Wanek

It was summer of 2011, my dad was out of work so my mom got a job at a waitress in a restaurant in Clearwater Florida called Beef O Brady’s. I remember my dad picked up my sisters and me from school and we were going to get my mom from work. My sister and I knew my dad was looking for jobs in other states but we had no idea it would actually happen. As my mom got into the car from work they both turned around and looked at my sisters and I and said “We have exciting news…. We’re moving to Virginia!” The expression of shock and sadness went over my face and the faces of my oldest littlest sister, and my youngest sister.

Instantly the car went from a happy mood, to a crying fest. My parents tried everything to get us to be excited about moving, Nothing worked until they promised us phones. After the phones were promised we realized maybe moving won’t be too bad, until we found out there wasn’t a beach near us. The thought of not going to the beach every day stunned us. So immediately the fits continued. We cried and whined until then a kitten was promised. We came to the conclusion phones, and a new kitten would be better than going to the beach every day and we could definitely give up Florida.

We got home and immediately called all our friends or went over to their house to share the news, which wasn’t too easy. I remember walking over to my best friend’s house and telling her, The first words that came out of her mouth were “Nu uh.. You’re joking.” It was sad to say that I wasn’t joking and only had a few more months with my family and friends in Florida before we began a new start and new life in another state.

That night everything got set up and we found out my dad had to come to Virginia 4 months ahead of us, which wasn’t going to be easy. For four months it was just me my mom and my sisters. My dad would come home every two months or so for a weekend which wasn’t long enough, but we made it work. Those 4 months went by very quickly and the next thing I knew my mom was in my room mumbling something “Come on honey, Today is the big day the movers are coming!” she said. That whole day we sorted everything in boxes and put numbered sticks on the boxes sobbing the whole time. 

We got everything packed and put onto the truck that day so we decided to leave that night instead of the next morning. We went around to our neighbors houses and said our last goodbyes which was tough. There was a lot of wet, dramatic instead of happy smiles. Everything was finally packed and we had said our final goodbyes to everyone so we loaded in to our car and drove out pf the neighborhood with the windows down waving to everyone aligned along the street. We could hear the faint goodbyes as we got further and further down the street. The next ten minutes of the car ride was just me and my sisters bawling our eyes out and our parents trying to comfort us, but nothing they were saying was making us feel better. We finally calmed down and my dad looked at us and said “look at this as a fresh new start… because we need one.” That made me and my sisters realize that maybe this will be something good for our family.