scenes from moving day, including goodbyes with our favorite neighborhood person (our dry cleaner), a surprise on Montague Street at 8 am, and my DIY moving day nails. our super said to us today that “change is growth.” if that’s the case, i’ve been growing relentlessly and against my will since age 5, when my father left China and my mother and i moved in with my grandparents. i haven’t seem able to stop moving, changing, or growing since, though i have sure fought with every muscle in my body to stay still. i’ve moved so many times now that i should have a doctorate in it. and yet, it still remains so very emotional. the goodbyes—even in small moves from neighborhood to neighborhood—i’ve just never found an easy, painless way to go about them. @alonglastname pointed out to me recently that no matter how many acts of racism and hate we experience, the next one somehow always takes us by surprise. and that’s a good thing, she pointed out, because it means we still have faith in humanity, that we’ve yet to become jaded. and maybe the same holds true here: even though i’ve moved 22 times, it still hurts to say goodbye. that’s a good thing, because it means my heart strives for true connection, however transient. thank you all for following me on this (long) journey. and a special thank you to @makeamovemoving for being such professional and efficient pros, packing, loading, unloading, installing everything for us on a sweltering, 94-degree day. the goodbyes may still be hard but this is the first move where i havent had to pack a single box, or lift a single (manicured) finger. Marko, Miles, and their team are the very best in the NYC area and I will not be using another company again (I really hope though that there are not too many more moves still ahead for me). thank you also to @james.hks for the intro.