They're simple things but they've got me thinking. As I pack up everything I own — or at least what's left after selling most of it — I'm realizing I've spent a lot of time trying to determine what's important in my life. The easiest way is looking at my key ring.
This week I'm giving a lot of keys back. One is for my cousin's house. Another is for the laundry room at my old apartment (I've been freeloading for over a year). Yet another is for Skate Church and one for the lockers to the shop there. My apartment.
Then there are the car keys. The car keys are the last to go but the one's I think I'll miss the least. No more lazily driving to my destination, unaware of the journey until I got there. Nope, now I have to blade, bike or meander through public transportation to get around, something I've never done.
My apartment key is the second to last to go. Lots of memories of having too many bladers over after sessions, clogging the room with the stink of beer and smoke, laughing too loud and too late while Cheung crank called hookers in Las Vegas. Too much fun. Then there's the piles of cat hair still clinging to everything. That, and everything that came with it, I'm not crying for leaving behind.
Skate Church keys. Saying good-bye to all the kids sucked, but I would have traded my time there for anything. It's without a doubt the thing I'll miss most about the Quad-Cities. Outside the kids, having a key to an indoor skate park with a 40-foot wide mini ramp was my favorite part. Again, lots of good times. Lots of injuries, but good times too.
My cousin's house. Ah, yes, family I really get along with. A ball-psycho dog I taught to play Wii. Taco Thursdays and smarty-pants Palmer kids. All good memories.
In giving these keys back, in the midst of all the good times, I realized one thing — outside the car, nothing belonged to me. None of these were places I had any ownership nor stake outside time and emotions. I never settled here. I never bought a house, a condo or signed a lease in the last two years.
I'll miss each one of those keys, but maybe it is time to leave.
