Goodbye, Liz and Steph

I’ve been out of touch the past few weeks, and found out very recently that Liz and Steph are leaving Chicago and heading to Baltimore. These photos are from last night – the eve of their move. I swung by after work to help load up the U-Haul for their big trip.

There were… a good number of boxes.

I ended up volunteering to be the Tetris man, and spent most of the first two hours inside the truck, organizing and trying to conserve space for all the furniture.

After a while, my shirt was pretty much drenched in sweat. I was literally dripping each time I paused, but I had gotten into some kind of weird zone where nothing hurt or felt sore… I was just moving fairly fluidly, box, move, stack, repeat.

Honestly, it felt pretty good. Aside from being a nice workout, it felt good to be doing something physical – especially after a long day sitting in front of a computer.

Matt moving more stuff, with Jimmy in the background. Matt and I were the primary two movers, as we were both there from the start. He and I worked a lot together to get the truck loaded up – it was a good bonding moment, as I think both of us prided ourselves on our work.

Justin was in the neighborhood (and ended up crashing at my apartment later), so I solicited his help. He brought over some dinner, and leant a hand in getting the last rounds of furniture loaded up.

It was a bit muggy, so there’s an extra glow around the lights. Seeing everything in the truck… it was a good feeling, a feeling of accomplishment.

I don’t think their move has really sunk in for me yet. I know I helped them pack up, but it hasn’t registered to me that they’re leaving Chicago, and that I won’t see them anytime soon.

I’m fairly certain I’ll be near Baltimore in the future. Or at least, I hope to be.

Goodbye Liz. Goodbye Steph. A new city awaits you.