Moving History

My first move happened when I was about four years old - I moved from one side of Salinas to another when my parents bought their first home.
My second move happened when I was twelve and a half and my parents sold that house and got divorced. My Mom, brother and I moved from Salinas to Lakewood Colorado.
Third: three months after moving to Lakewood, we moved about a mile away into my step-father's house.
Fourth: fifteen months later, I moved from Lakewood Colorado back to Salinas, and in with my friend Sheri and her family
Fifth: two years later I moved from Sheri's to my Dad's about half a mile away
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth: two years later I moved to UC Davis for college, where I moved every year until I graduated
Tenth: I moved from Davis to Sacramento with my boyfriend Mike
Eleventh: One year later I moved into my own studio in downtown Sacramento
Twelveth: One year later I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment with my cousin Kelly
Thirteenth: One year later I moved in with my boyfriend Stuart to the Pocket area of Sac
Fourteenth: One year later Stuart and I moved near CSU Sacramento
Fifteenth: Two years later Stuart and I bought a house in Folsom
Sixteenth: Two years later I moved into my own place in the Natomas area of Sac
Seventeenth: Six months later I moved to Redwood Shores with my boyfriend Bill
Eighteenth: Two years later Bill and I bought a house in Redwood City
Nineteenth: Two years later I moved to my own flat in Noe Valley - San Francisco
Twentieth: Two years later I moved in with T in the Portola District of San Francisco

I am thirty six years old. I have moved twenty times. I have not lived in the same place for more than two years since I was twelve. This seems rather crazy at best and madly insane at worst.

I like moving. I like that during each move I have sorted through things that I've collected during the time I've been in one place and decide whether they are coming or going to a new home. It's cleansing, the whole process, of letting go of things that used to represent me but no longer do.

Now though, I want to stay where I am for a while. I want to complete projects like the backyard and the new room. I want to have all my mail arrive for a while without the yellow forwarding stickers from the post office.

T always talks of moving, of selling the house, buying another one somewhere different. I know his reasons, the neighborhood isn't the greatest, the people in the neighborhood are not the greatest.

But I like our house. There are things I would do and change, but it suits us. And I'm finally tired of moving.