374 Days Later

A sobering thought occurred to me a couple of days ago: I've been in New Orleans for an entire year already.... A whole year has passed since I packed up my gear and left Atlanta.... 52 weeks have lapsed since the day I officially moved out of the house I shared with my husband in Commerce to move to a town where I knew no one. So much has happened in the passing of a year that it's difficult to wrap my head around it all.

I don't regret leaving Georgia. It was the only way Ronnie was ever going to fully understand that our marriage was over, and Lord knows I needed a fresh start-a break from the lunacy. Between everything I went through because of the false allegations of a disgruntled employee, to the personal struggles I went through to end a 13 year relationship, let me just say a big "Thank you" to the man who invented anti-depressants! God bless you, my friend. The expression "beautiful disaster" certainly comes to mind.

When I made the decision to move to Louisiana, I told myself I'd give it at least two years to make a final decision on whether or not I'd stay in New Orleans for any length of time. It's a big decision to relocate, one that takes a good deal of planning for ahead of time. Recently, I've been contemplating whether or not to move back to Atlanta at the end of my self-imposed two year timeline, move down to FLA to be closer to my grandparents, or to simply stay here.

I love where I live in NOLA. My apartment has character and history, and even though the floors and walls aren't straight, the kitchen is the size of a closet, and I have no off-street parking, I'm happy here. I have everything I need within walking distance-bars, shops, pharmacy, grocery, coffee shops. There's always something to do if I feel like going out to a movie or a club, and if I feel like staying in, I'm perfectly at my leisure to do so. I'd prefer to have some single friends with whom I had something in common, but at this point in my life, married, settled friends are nice-there's no pressure there. In a way, the situation has actually given me time to grieve and deal with the emotional baggage and loss that comes with divorce. I'm still a long way from being at a point where I'd like to be in another relationship, and frankly, I'm not certain if I'll ever want to get married again, but I feel like I'm making progress sorting everything out.

I haven't made up my mind what I want to do regarding my home base, but thankfully, I still have more time to make a decision. I do know that I miss my friends and family so much that it physically hurts my heart sometimes. I long for lunches w/Amy, seeing my niece all the time, going to hockey games w/Jenn, and having our girls nights w/many bottles of wine and Apples to Apples. I yearn to see the sunsets in GA over the breathtaking downtown skyline and God, I miss good barbecue and soul food like you can only get in the A!

Until I can make a final choice on where to live long term, I'm looking forward to my first real Christmas in New Orleans (I didn't really celebrate last year since I'd just moved in) and I'm counting the many blessings I've had over this past year in my new home. I honestly wasn't too sure I'd make it, but I guess they call it "faith" for a reason.....