a chapter comes to an end

Earlier, as my friends and I were chatting in my living room, my friend Luan asked me “Will you be sad leaving this flat?” and I said, ‘No’. Ten years in this flat. I am so very ready to leave it- it’s a chapter of a book that I have long come to terms with ending. It wasn’t until hours later, as I stood there brushing my teeth (when many thoughts start to whir into my brain) that I thought back to the last ten years here.

That summer’s day in August, sitting outside on the patio blinking at that long awaited positive pregnancy test.

Our first night when we moved in and we had to sleep on the floor because we had zero furniture.

Those painfully slow months of renovation work.

That time Ismay and I wanted afternoon tea but couldn’t actually be bothered to go out-out, and so we sat in my kitchen with a homemade Victorian sponge and sandwiches instead.

My 30th birthday where I wore an Owl onesie and blew out my candles with a handful of my closest friends.

This flat has seen us through our twenties, half of our thirties, wedding plans, three cats and a baby.

I don’t feel sad to be leaving it, in fact I can’t wait. But, my eagerness to leave isn’t because I dislike it here. It’s because I’m excited to make new stories and memories as a family of three in a new home. This flat has steered us through the past decade like an old ship. It’s seen me through countless jobs and career changes. It’s where Robin and his partner started their company. It’s where our family began. It hasn’t been a chapter of our lives, but a book.

And now it’s time to start the new one.