2025 was a unique year. I lived in four different states and was a resident of those states. I moved across the country three times, with professional movers, packing and unpacking, registering my car, updating bank accounts, IDs, insurance, and permanent addresses. I leased apartments, sold my beloved house in Florida, and navigated multiple career changes quickly.
Along the way, I said goodbye to long term friends, familiar rhythms, favorite restaurants, coffee shops, and the commutes that had become quiet anchors, the route to the university, the small towns, the streams, and the art museums that made a place feel peaceful. In the middle of so much change, I found myself thinking of what I have done, where I have been, and what I still carry. When I look back at the people I knew, and the work, and the ordinary days that now feel distant, I do not see loss. I see what I learned, what it built in me, and the good that came from it.