One year ago today, five of my best-besties were packing the packable parts of my life in cardboard boxes while my movers stood impatiently by.
Big Jim: (the mover): “Can I ask why you waited until we were in the DRIVEWAY before you STARTED packing?”
Little Me: (the movee): “Well Jim, it seems that trying to perform CPR on my seven-year, live-in relationship kept me pretty BUSY!!!”
Big Jim: (the jerk): “Hmmph! I guess it’s a good thing you’re a lawyer and not a medic. Apparently, you suck at CPR…”
Little Me: (the saint): LOOKING AROUND AT THE HALF-PACKED BOXES – “Umm, ya’ think? You know what’s also a good thing, Big Jim? It’s a good thing that both my hands can’t reach around your neck…”
Big Jim and I continued to shadow box one another with our words while my friends hustled to fill boxes with pieces of me. Finally, Big Jim, in not so many words, said “uncle”.
Big Jim: (the teddy bear): “It’s his loss, you know.”
Little Me: (the warrior): “I’d hug you right now, but I don’t have a ladder. So how about you grab a 90 pound box under each bicep and start loading that jalopy in the driveway…”
And that’s what he did. My cavalcade of married-mom BFFs formed a mini-van convoy behind Big Jim’s moving van. Before we knew it, two pizzas, four bottles of wine and twelve hours later, my new super single life began. Just like that. One year ago today.
Sara Bareilles has a song that makes me smile every time I listen because of one simple lyric. It’s this: “…to get yourself a new life, you’ve got to give the other one away…”
She’s so right. But more importantly, turns out, so was Big Jim
I love you Kristine Decker Hawlk, Nichole Pulicano Vandewater, Karen Passarelli Bruno, Heidi Warmbrand Fountain, and Erika A Vandewater. You’re the best-besties a girl could ever have