Our Last Two
It just wouldn't be fitting if things ran smoothly for us, even for our last two days in NY.
Packing the truck was quick and painless though, especially for me, I just hung out inside taping up odds and ends. We we were lucky enough to have a bunch of our closest friends help us load the gross amount of boxes and junk we have accumulated over the past 5 1/2 years, it always sickens me how much stuff we collect and don't use. I can't imagine packing anything bigger than a 500 square foot apartment. We celebrated our hard work with pizza and soda, and stayed up past midnight telling stories and remenising. We hauled our luggage over to the Riches, we couldn't imagine spending our last couple days with anyone else, and crashed on their air matress. Around three in the morning we awoke to Luke vomitting in the crib. This was the first Luke has ever thrown up continuously. We stayed up with him almost the entire night feeling helpless as he rolled around moaning and whimpering. By morning, he seemed to be feeling much better, relieving us all. The idea of spending our last day with Luke sick was very depressing.
After getting dressed we headed over to Tom's restaurant, a favorite of ours, ate waffles and said our goodbyes to the staff. That afternoon Katie and I set out to return our cable box. Sparing the details, we spent an hour and a half getting lost only to get there and have to wait over an hour just to drop it off. Not exactly how I would have liked to spend my last day. Meanwhile Tom worked diligently trying to sell our car. We had to rid of it before we flew out Sunday evening. He dropped the price a few times and waited around for people to come see it, but the luck wasn't on our side. After giving up for the day, we cruised into the city for one last stop to H&M, Pinkberry, and Fabulous Franny's. By the end of our errands, Tom seemed to have caught Luke's bug and was to nauseous to carry on a conversation. We flew over the brooklyn bridge in silence and I dropped Tom off so he could run inside and most likely vomit. I spent the next twenty five minutes driving around the neighborhood looking for a parking spot. This as always is frusterating, but tonight, I had a girls night going away party for me that I had been looking forward to for weeks. I finally parked, got Luke out and as I walked the two blocks back to Katie's I too felt so nauseous I could barely walk. Katie was ready waiting for me, Tom was green and laying on the bathroom floor, and the only energy I could muster up was enough to fall onto the airmatress, only getting up to run to the bathroom after smelling the chicken noodle soup Chip had just warmed up. I threw up several times, then Tom. Even in those moments of misery I just couldn't believe we were really spending our last night in Brooklyn huddled over the toilet and laying on the bathroom floor while the party sadly carried on without me.
But we recovered. By morning we were able to go to church and say our last goodbyes. We got back to Riches at 2pm, only three hours before we needed to take off to the airport. Instead of spending that time with our friends, we spent it cleaning the apartment, packing our bags, and yes, desperately trying to sell the car. Tom finally confirmed a few appointments to see the car at 4:30, just a half an hour before we needed to leave. We really didn't have a plan B, we had to sell it. but with ten minutes to spare, Tom walked in with the plates and we all cheered. Just enough money to cover the cost of our refrigerator repair.
The Pulfer's and Clifton's, our longest NY friends picked us up for the airport and we said goodbye to our neighborhood for the last time.
My emotions are still to fragile to recount anything except for the facts of our last two days. When I am feeling a bit more stable I will attempt to document our feelings of leaving behind our favorite city, first home, best friends, and so many memories.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 6:56AM
Reader Comments (12)
Well, the good news is that the living's not so bad in Utah. Though my wife would probably tell you that she's still mad at me for luring her away from New York.
oh Alysha! I am so sorry. Not sure what else I can say. That just plain sucks!
No final Girl's Night?
Oh, Alysha, you were robbed!
If you want, I can mail you all the little slips of paper from the name game, played on my final girl's night out. John came across them as we were unpacking and said "You kept these?"
Yes, John, I kept them. Sad, but true. I just wanted to have some final reminder of all the great times I had with my Brooklyn friends.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of driving away from your home for the last time. John is not one to get emotional, but he got a little choked up as we drove away from First Place. He talked about how we had dated there, came home there after we were married, brought our babies home there, etc. And seeing it all empty and devoid of all our stuff just seemed so sad. So many memories..
It's just the close of a chapter in your life Alysha.. and now you are turning the page on a new chapter, and who knows what wonderful things are in store for the Beans.
awww, WE MISS YOU!!!
are you going to change the name of your blog to utahbean, sandybean, roseparkbean? man, they just don't sound as cool. I walked past the coffee shop called brooklyn bean today and it made me feel all empty inside.
I wanted to come out of lurkdom and say hello...I stumbled on your blog through Natalie Whitney's and have been peeking every once in a while. I live in Manhattan so it's fun to read about your life over in Brooklyn. I had to comment and tell you that I don't even know you, but I got nearly teary-eyed reading this post. We've been here for 5 years and I know that I would feel EXACTLY as you do if we were moving right now. I get sad just thinking about it. Just know that you will always have all these memories and your friendships will last forever. I hope that the rest of your move goes well and that you adjust to Utah. Anyway, just wanted to say "Hi".
thecitywalkers.blogspot.com
oh i am so glad you blogged about those last days- so ridiculously perfect, in a terribly sad way. what's life in brooklyn without all these great stories we accumulate?
driving to the party that night without you was so depressing and i haven't perked up much since. and i broke the "no crying" pact right about the time your plane took off. . . and just now when i read brooke's comment. oh how i'm missing my friends.
So sorry you weren't feeling great your last few days in the city. Hope all goes well in your new place.
Well I am really happy you are here. We are for sure going to have to plan some really fun things to do to make you feel more at home and excited about being here. I must admit, I will be really sad not to read about your life in NYC, I was living through you.
i'm sorry your last days in ny were so bad! i feel sad for you. it sounds like you had such a hard time. not only leaving your friends, but packing, puking, selling the car? wow. i hope you will be so happy in your new home. leaving new york is hard, but hopefully you will start to find life more relaxing and peaceful.
I feel selfish. I have woken to little Luke's happy smile every morning this week. And yet I know that reading this (along with Katie's sweet post) as well as the many "I don't want to leave NY" posts along the way, yeah I can't help but feel, well selfish. That part of me that is happy to finally have you (& Tom & Lukey) back after so long. But at the same time I feel awful because you had to leave your other family who so obviously loves you just as much as I do. And I feel bad that I get to see Luke on a more regular basis. That I have taken him away from "Eve" and away from all his mother's friends she loved so dearly. And I feel especially bad that she didn't get to go to that party she was so excited about, but instead spent the night puking which while it sounds like a blast, I can't think it was as fun as having a last night out with the 'girls' would've been. I feel bad that the adventures of living in NY are no longer going to be read here. I feel bad that I can't offer anything exciting in its place. So while I am happy you've come home it is because I am selfish. A part of me wishes you didn't have to so that you could continue living in your small apartment living the exciting life with your brooklyn friends who became your family. Because I too kinda sorta came to love some of them. And I too am going to miss some of them. The thing that's so great about Alysha is that she makes great friends and I kinda wish that she was able to bring some of those with her. Again, because I am selfish.
Alysha I am sorry your last few days didn't go as planned. I'm sorry that your life in NY came to a close. I hope that in time Utah can offer some of the excitement you felt in your years in NY. And I hope that one day I can be the kind of friend to you that you have been to me, and that I can be the kind of friend to you that the friends that had become your family, that you sadly had to leave behind, have been (and hopefully will continue to be) to you. Because I don't want you to hurt, and I know I'm not there yet, I am no where near there yet, but some day, one day, I hope to be there.
You forgot to mention after all you guys puked in our apartment, your dog threw up too.
Just the other day, Katie just stepped in a spot we missed.
She'll never wash her foot again.
ok, chip's comment made me laugh, which made my co worker ask what was funny and she thought chip's comment was funny too.
so when do we get to play with LUKE?