Theories of Moving
The new apartment is cold.
For some time now we’ve felt lodged between, as if we had pushed the elevator button to take us to a new floor in our lives and are still waiting for it to arrive. But in the past year so many changes did happen — our daughter Q was accepted by one of her top-choice colleges; my wife and I both switched jobs; and our son M decided not to return to his college in Los Angeles, dedicating himself instead to being an actual rock star on New York City stages while he figures out how to better navigate the world he’s been thrown into.
And we also did end up moving.
We had lived in the same neighborhood and building for over 20 years. Even now it seems wild to say — the longest time my wife or I had lived anywhere, long enough for two children to arrive from nonexistence and leave childhood. We stayed because we were comfortable, or comfortable enough. We might have stayed a little longer, but the owner was deep into converting our apartment building from rental units to luxury coops, and renters had become a barrier to bigger money. When the option to renew our lease came up this year, we were given the choice between paying an offensive amount or packing up and moving out in a few weeks. The choice was easy, or easy enough.
Following through on that choice wasn’t. I really can’t recommend living in the same place…
