The Move

My parents and sister came to visit me after Christmas and help me move. My parents and I went to the basement in my apartment, and we found all these gifts Chris had given me. I was very emotional. I decided that I would keep a few things that meant a lot to me-his robe, some gifts he gave me like a turtle lamp, a wooden giraffe from out honeymoon, the jewelry he gave me. I decided I would give away the furniture and everything so I could start fresh. I knew my new apartment would be small and I could not keep everything. I donated all the furniture to goodwill. I saved all the pictures and key memories and gifts. My parents flew home. My sister and I began the drive to Alabama. I felt such a sense of relief that I was starting over in a sense. It took us three days to get back to Auburn. We then went to Birmingham and moved into my new place. I was not starting my new job for a few weeks so I spent sometime exploring Birmingham. My mom and dad said that they hoped I would go to church. They were both like you need to have God and church in your life. I thought, it would be a good way to meet people so I started going to a church that some people I knew from college attended. I even went to Sunday School! I had not been to church in years. The people were nice but I did not really get a lot out of it at first. I went on a ski trip to Utah with some old friends and ruptured my ACL. I was so upset because I would not be able to work for 8 weeks after the surgery. After my surgery, I recovered pretty quickly and was kind of bored. I called the church I was going to and asked could I come by and do some volunteer work. I just could not stand laying around. I went and helped update member records. Someone on the staff asked if I could go to a local church for the homeless to help feed a meal, and I agreed to go. I went and there were all the homeless people who had nothing. I realized, Emily, you are so blessed by God. Yes, you had something bad happened but you are so blessed because you have a place to live, a job, an education, friends, and Jesus. I began volunteering at other homeless meals and helping others less fortunate than me. I feel that God used this experience for me to be perspective on how blessed I was in this life. I started to feel happier and more content with life. I still missed Chris, but I began to feel that I was not alone and that God was with me. It was a true breakthrough in my grieving process.