Ten months after Austin
A post by Indiana . . .
I am flabbergasted because I just realized that we have been in Atlanta for ten months now. In just eight weeks we will have been away from Austin for an entire year.
It's strange here, in this emotional in-between place where home still feels like Texas but that things are finally starting to feel familiar here in Georgia. I now recognize faces at the grocery store. We've finally found a wings restaurant that we like on the Pluckers level. And at last, I can find light switches in any given room in my house without running my hand up and down and all around the walls in the dark.
But I miss Austin something terribly still. I miss knowing how to get from place to place and where / when to avoid traffic. I miss my friends and the regular intervals in which I saw them. I also miss how we'd spontaneously see each other between our regular get-togethers, too. I miss my quirky city and the people in it-- people like me who never felt at home until Austin wrapped its arms around us and filled our bellies with breakfast tacos and our heart with laughter.
I posted this on my Instagram today and although it was off-the-cuff it really captures how raw I'm feeling these days:
Every time I see little potted succulence I get a twinge of longing in my heart for Texas and all the friends and places we left behind. I take a deep breath and remind myself of the resilience of cacti-- how they grow in rocky places, how they thrive with very little water, and I remind myself that despite how hard this feels that I WILL bloom where I'm planted. I fight back tears, swallow hard and remember: Austin holds sweet memories but Atlanta has new adventures.
I am thankful for my friend Sully and the people I'm getting to know at our new church. And I love living so close to my family (who is in Tampa) that I've seen them more in the last ten months than I have in the last two years. It is a huge blessing to be in the same town as Chris' family, and every time I see my kids with their grandparents, I am reminded that we did this for them. And for us.
Like bringing a cactus up from seed, friendships take time. Getting a groove in a new city takes time. And although I'm a bit incredulous at how much time has passed since we said farewell to Austin, I love enjoying our neighborhood and knowing that this place here is where our legacy begins. It doesn't feel like home yet, but it is starting to feel familiar. Plus finding an all- you- can- eat wings place helps a lot, too.
