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I’m Not Moving
by Linda McKenney

Between the ages of eighteen and sixty-six, I moved eleven times.

From childhood home to grandma’s house when I married

To first apartment

To a different apartment

To grandma’s house

To our first home

To an apartment when I got divorced

To the home of my second husband

To a twenty-four-foot recreational vehicle

To an apartment

To a home in Tennessee

Just the thought of this list exhausts me. But not enough to prevent the eleventh move.

From Tennessee to a home in New York State.

We loved living in Tennessee. I remember when we first arrived, knowing no one, I had some trepidation. We’d left a rich life back in New York. Could we recreate it here? I remember thinking, “If I die in Tennessee, will anyone attend my funeral?’

We did make friends. Lots of them. And we acclimated to a somewhat different culture. But there was a huge hole in my life that kept expanding. Every time we visited family back in New York, my heart split open and took weeks to heal.

So despite the almost overwhelming thought of one more move, we went back to New York.

Now every other Friday night, the whole clan comes for dinner. Six children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.   Each meal includes some kind of meat and potatoes, chicken tenders, pizza, pasta and a vegan dish or two. I spend the whole day cooking, and I love it!

Then we have a wonderful gathering of love and kinship. Someone else cleans up the mess, and I just sit back in my chair and count my blessings. I’m not moving!

AUTHOR’S PHOTO CAPTION: My daughter-in-law helping me pack when we moved into our RV. I don’t want to let go of my granddaughter.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Linda McKenneyis a Personal Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, and Writer, specializing in Mindful Living and Eating. Her creative nonfiction is published in Silver Birch Press, 101 Word Short Stories, The Survivor’s Review, and Helen: A Literary Magazine.  She also has an alter ego at Susanbanthony.live.