Moving Houses And Fading Faces

A mother recounts the day her daughter’s best friend moves house for a new city, which brings in memories of her past. A simple heart-melting story.

I  am sure many of us have experienced moving houses. If you haven’t moved yourself then maybe your neighbours have. When I was in class 6, my parents decided to shift from a comfortable and a friendly colony set up comprising of innumerable friends, to a place with upcoming infrastructure.

Though I knew moving was inevitable, I consciously avoided thinking about ‘The Day’ knowing it would be an emotional one for me. But time just passed by, construction of our house was complete and within few days the final date of moving was finalized. With a sinking heart, I broke this news to my friends (10-12 of them and yes, we were a big gang). Knowing this news, they were disheartened too as my new house was far and it was impossible to meet with them every evening.

I sat there thinking about how everything was so cozy, familiar, trustworthy and loving around me. The thought of an unknown place suddenly made me feel lonely. As the last piece of luggage was loaded up on the truck, we finally bid adieu to our neighbours, aunts, uncles, and then my dear friends. My friends were all in tears and so was I. More than my friends, I was leaving behind  mixed emotions, many memories, experiences, secrets, and many more complex feelings. Carrying this bag of mixed emotions within, I saw my known faces fading away and off we were on the new path.

Given that friends are the integral part in that age, adjustment time for me was longer than any other member of the family.

Given that friends are an integral part at that age, the adjustment time for me was longer than for any other member of the family. It took me a long time to make friends as there weren’t many people staying around in our new neighbourhood. Though I made some friends, the quality of the friendship was never the same.

A few days back, I was reminded of the same situation. My daughter’s best friend was moving to another city. They have been best buddies since they were 1-year-olds. This was the 5th year of their friendship and today it was ‘The Day’ for my daughter’s friend. He was at our house since morning playing with my daughter as the movers and packers were busy at his place. They played together as if there was no tomorrow. Surprisingly, there were no arguments, no complaints. They were playing and talking peacefully.

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Though they were merely six years old, the emotions were the same as that of any grown up parting ways with his or her buddies.

While doing my regular chores I passed through their space and overheard their conversation. He was telling her, “I won’t be there now, so behave properly, have breakfast and milk without any tantrums, don’t go alone in the elevator but take the stairs, and if any one of us feels like talking to each other, call on each other mom’s number.”  There was the pain of parting in that conversation. The pain of letting go the very first friend of their lives. Though they were merely six years old, the emotions were the same as that of any grown up parting ways with his or her buddies.

In the evening, they both sat near the truck watching the last piece of luggage being loaded. I looked at him and suddenly, my old feelings came to the forefront. I was able to empathize with him. With teary eyes, my daughter hugged him and said goodbye. At that moment, I felt the same pain as I had when I left my friends.The only difference was, this time our faces faded away for someone moving on to a new path.

Moving house image via Shutterstock

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