Change.

I remember

When I realized that my life

Was changing

Forever.

Most of the time

This occurs when

One experiences their first day

Their first day of school or camp

Yet, in a way,

I was experiencing my last.

I was on my way to my friend's house, whom I no longer speak to,

When I watched my childhood swingset be demolished

Right in front of my eyes.

To me this represented

My childhood being destroyed

Along with the swingset.

While this may not seem significant to you, it showed me

That sometimes in life

Things don't go your way.

I realized then

That I had to say goodbye.

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful house

To my backyard

To my neighbourhood

To my parent's love.

I had to say goodbye

To the life I lived

A life of luxury and comfort

Living a facade.

I was in fact

Saying hello

To the truths that awaited me.

Secrets kept preserving my childhood

Preserving the perfect exterior,

buying a house we couldn't afford,

The image

That we were just like any other family.

But is that even fair to say?

No family is like any other family.

My amount of privilege so grand

That I could complain about moving.

Or swing sets.

Or divorce.

I often wonder

Why common experiences that most share

Like a pet’s death

Or divorce

Or a sudden change

Have turned me into the person I am today,

When they are unique in no way.

Maybe it’s unfair to say I was saying goodbye

I was simply saying hello

To a new life

To a new home

To new knowledge

To new truths

To a new perspective

To a new person.