Narrative Essay - Saying Goodbye

Amber Williams

Mr. Joseph

8-1 Humanities

03 February 2015

Saying Goodbye

My hope that something would stop it from ever happening fades away as the day of letting go draws nearer. Every night since we decided to move, we asked for god to open up the doors for us so we could move on, but deep down inside me I was asking him to help us find a way to stay.

In about a week my whole childhood life will be left to nothing but memories of those happy moments. Each day comes and goes so fast that I can barely recall what happens until finally, the night before the big moving day comes and I get pulled into a dreary sadness.

        “Tomorrow’s the big day,” my mother says with a sort of relieved sigh. I look at the boxes in the hallway up against the stairwell. 3 months ago we started packing and I’ve watched so many of the things that we’ve cherished be put into those boxes. Things that we’ve cherished throughout the 10 years we’ve lived here.

As I regroup my thoughts I still keep asking myself, why do we have to move? There are so many friends I’ve made on this block and I made so many good memories that lie in this house.  It has been nearly a year since we started to consider moving out of our house, and I still haven’t wrapped my mind around moving tomorrow. As I think about it, I slip into a memory.

I’m with my friend Ashley sitting on the sidewalk in front of the trampoline, we’re talking about random stories. That’s when I decide to tell her about moving. “Hey Ashley, I kind of have some bad news.”

“What is it?”

“I hate to say this, but I think we might move next year.”

“Wait what, you mean like next year, for real,” she asked it with such surprise that I didn’t know how to react. There was a small pause.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“No, I won’t let you; I won’t let you move away.” I was happy at the thought and smiled, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. I had been a friend with Ashley for a long time and I didn’t want to move away from her.

        My father had taken a few days off from work to help us get ready to move and pack up the last few things, and so far, everything is going according to schedule. We had to be out at the end of July and that is tomorrow. My family and I go to bed that night with a sad feeling. As I lie in bed I examine the room, I look at Debra across the room, making the room look like a maze. I create an exact copy of the room and place it in my mind to stay.

        I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep. I turn on my lamp and just lie there, staring at the ceiling and don’t move. In just a few hours, my dad will come and wake me up and then we will have to start the day.

I lied unmoving for two hours and was already awake by the time my dad came to wake me up so I got to skip all the tickling and poking that he does every time he does have to wake me up. I get out of bed, slip on some cloths, make my bed, and head downstairs. The first thing I do is comb my hair. I take my time, enjoying the moment and then go to the kitchen to eat my last meal at the house. All of us are quiet with thoughts. Finally we clean up and that’s when the help for moving comes and before I know it we’re all moving around doing things to help get things out the door and onto the moving trailer.