On Thursday I got a certificate at our last Junior League Meeting: the “Provisional Class Dancing Queen” award. I love that award. Seriously. I might be too proud of it. Friday morning I propped it up on my dresser mirror, sat back to admire it for a bit, and suddenly found myself in the midst of a mini-breakdown. I sat there on my bed, wrapped in a towel, and cried. Hard. Looking at that award made me face something I’ve been denying for a while now- I am leaving Charlottesville. Soon.
I don’t know where I’m going yet and I don’t know when, but by June 30th I will no longer be a Charlottesville resident. This means I will have to say goodbye to the Harris Teeter where I learned to shop for two, goodbye to my favorite running trail by the lake, goodbye to neighbors and routines and mountain views. And most importantly, I’ll have to say goodbye to friends. When I go I will promise all of them I’ll keep in touch and visit and invite them to come stay with us, but the truth is some of these people will fade from our lives. It’s inevitable. And sad. I’ve been resisting this idea for quite awhile now, but I think it’s time to accept that my life is about to change in a big way. My friends here in Charlottesville are the first to know me as Keri Billig, not Keri Metje. They know me as a wife, who cooks and cleans and dances on table tops. They know ME as I am now. And I will forever remember this place and time in my life and all the special people that made these years so…happy, so truly happy.
One day soon I will take down that award, place it in a box, and move it to my new home. With it will come my friendships and memories and laughter. My time here has been well spent. I came, I loved, I danced. And I got the award to prove it.
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