A Thank You to Apartment 212

Two weeks from this very moment, I will be attempting to sleep on a plane that's about to land in Paris.

This particular moment, however, happens to be my final night sleeping in my own bed in my own apartment. Tomorrow I deconstruct my bed, wash my linens, and have my light fixtures taken down by the maintenance man. I'm truly going to miss this place. Sure, it's just a tiny little 635 sq. ft. apartment, reminiscent of playing house in a refrigerator box as a kid, but I've loved living here. The last 15 months that I've spent here have been a time of immense personal growth and self-discovery, and this apartment has seen it all.

15 months - it hasn't been much longer than that since my world as I knew it came crashing down. My husband of 9 months walked out on me, only for me to discover a week later that he'd spent the summer having an affair. "How did I end up here?," I asked myself, "Is he really the person I married?" Knowing I would never again be able to trust him, I took stock: I had a house, two dogs, and one cheating husband. So what did I do? I sold the house, gave away the dogs, and divorced the husband. Poof!, a fresh start.

Okay, so it wasn't nearly that easy, but the important part is that I endured the hard times and came out on the other end a better and happier person. This apartment knows all the details. It knows the tears, the frustration, the anger, the grief, the irony... and the laughter. This apartment watched me find my happiness.

To the next Resident of Apartment 212: May you find your happiness... and may these walls keep my secrets.

Goodbye Apartment 212, and thank you.