2024/Payton-30645

When I was nine years old I was living in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It was the summer and it was also moving time. I had only lived in Kansas for a year and had already made two best friends (Lily and Harper). It was time to say goodbye and spend my last time together with them. All of my toys had already been packed (and ready for the big move) so my friends and I decided to play on Harper’s trampoline. I guessed that her family was going to leave it behind since it was too big to bring with them when they moved. The problem began with the sound of a truck, “vroom!” To be more specific the sound came from the moving truck. “ We are moving to Belgium,” were the words that I heard but did not really know. “Where’s that at?” I asked my dad. “It’s in Europe.” I thought he was joking. I had always wanted to go to Europe and visit Paris, France which will soon be the country right next door. But as I was feeling excited I was also feeling sad, scared, and full of questions. “Are our pets coming with us? Will I see Lily and Harper again? How long will it take to get there? IT WILL TAKE 15 HOURS!?!” The situation became more difficult when I realized we had to leave our dog with my grandparents. At least we could still take our super noisy cats on the plane. Definitely not annoying. My family took a trip to say goodbye to our family and friends before we went off to a different place in the world. I know we will see them again but it was still hard having to say that one word, “ goodbye. ” And then. The airplane. Hot, noisy, cramped space, and most of all long. The trip took 4 ever. I imagined people saying in their heads, “ Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” And if we could understand the crying babies I think we would hear, “ GET ME OF THIS THING.” To top it all off we were going to Belgium. This move was way different from all of the others that my family has done. New continent. New country. New language. Probably even some different foods I haven't even tried yet. And not to even mention the different time zones. I faced it all by just simply relaxing once we got to the apartment we would stay at until my family found us a house we would live in while being in Belgium.After we got settled into our new house there was a surprise waiting for me in the mail. “ This box is for you, Payton,” my mom said. “ It's from Lily! ” I opened it up to find a couple of little gifts and a note. She missed me and I missed her. It felt good knowing that it wasn’t only me who had to deal with moving and going to new places. The good thing is that you will ALWAYS remember your friends. And that is also why memories are a thing.