The thing about being a gypsy is, obviously, you are constantly on the move. It doesn’t really matter if you’re moving countries or locations. The fact is: changing address is an inevitable part of your life because it’s how things are configured from your end. It’s like the game of boxing, you have to throw a punch in order to win. That’s just the way it is.
Can you change it? Not really. Not when you don’t want to leave the ones dearest to you. You’re not tired of being with these people. Far from it. But…you’re weary from the hassle and stress related to packing your lives in boxes and shipping them to a new location that you know very little about.
The most painful part is leaving the place, which, for a time, you have called “home”. The other painful part is: having to scan through all your possessions and decide which one you should leave because it will cost more money to keep them. There is a constant need to evaluate your attachment to materials things and definitely, the lifestyle of a gypsy forces you to do that.
I am writing this after I finally let go of my academic requirements for the first semester of my Master’s degree. Jeff and I are anticipating Christmas as we have packed our gifts for each other and for our children months before. But…we are also in the mood of filling brown boxes with books, clothes, and some other knickknacks we have gathered in the two years that we have lived in this 150-square meter apartment. Come December 28, we are moving to a new home. We will definitely miss the comforts of this place as we move to a place that is half the size of this one, and without the regular house helpers, who come rushing to our unit whenever we need them (especially when we need our sheets change or more towels for the bathrooms).
But, as Jeff and I agreed, this is a good move because it will be a new community, where the children can play with other children; it will be a new community, where we can open windows, feel the southern China breeze, have a great meal in a balcony; it will be a new community, where I will be able to practice my rusty Mandarin Chinese.
It will be a new community, where, as I told Jeff, we will live a simpler lifestyle; a life that we would like to impart to our children as early as now and…in years to come.
I am not worried at all about adjusting to the new place. I am pretty good at it; so are the kids. Jeff? He’s the ultimate expert!
So as the year 2015 beckons, Team Ruffolo will be in a new home. We pray for each and every family to stay happy and find comfort in the company and love of each other.
A Very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year Everyone!
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T30WC or The 30-minute Writing Challenge is a writing exercise born out of this blogger’s need to maintain a habit of writing. Subjects of each writing challenge is just about anything but should ONLY be written within 30 minutes.
