Today is Day 15 of the 31 Days of writing challenge. The theme for 31 Days of 5 Minute Free Writes is MOVE.
That is a word I heard often as a child and came to hate. But as an adult, I continued to move – from province to province, from city to city.
One day, after I had settled in one place, I actually made a list of all the moves I had made in my life. The number was well over 30.The longest place I lived in as a child was 5 years – most times we moved after two.
I have lived in many provinces and in many different towns and cities. I have moved from Manitoba (age 1) to Quebec to Ontario to the NWT, back to Toronto, to Alberta, back to Ontario.
As a child, I hated moving. A hated having to make new friends, only to move again.
When I left home for university, my moves became necessary as I went to school and then sought teaching jobs.
When I separated from my ex, I decided not to move my children to the city where I taught but to move into the village near where we lived so my children wouldn’t have to change schools or lose friends. I knew what that was like. But my daughter still hated the move a she had to change buses.
I am now living in a city that is the same name as the street I lived on when I was born. Full circle – eerie!
Beverley A Baird 