I grew up in Orlando, going through all of my secondary school and earlier here. I had a life here, one I left behind to go to GT, something no longer holding me in Atlanta. I have an internship job there that is good and offers the chance for a full time job given my finishing my education. I have a handful of very close friends who I live with and see regularly, however I’m thinking about again leaving my life and friends behind. This time though to return to Orlando.
My family is going through a very rough time right now. My mom is about to have a serious medical event which will take her to Houston for several months with dad travelling frequently back and forth.
The truth of the matter is that there isn’t going to be an easier time for me to pick it up and move, and my parents would greatly appreciate me in town, if not living with them free of rent.
Atlanta isn’t that far off, I could make visits back up there easily enough. And the more I think about it the more I think that I not only can, but also want to return here to Orlando. I tried to handle this logically, looking at the benefits and costs of each side and in truth it is also leaning towards Orlando.
It would be really hard to leave my roommates behind, they’re closer to brothers than anything - but I think I may have to.
At first I set down to ask you all for your opinion and input on this, but as I write it - I feel more and more pulled to my own decision, the one I am hard pressed to make. I don’t know. I need to spend more time on this, but if I’m going to do it… I need to do it soon. Before I sign the lease for the new house with my roommates.
I’ll update you all when I’ve come a decision. Until then, input is of course welcome.
Your friends in Atlanta will understand. They have mothers, too, and if one of theirs was going to go to the hospital for serious treatment in another state, I’m sure they would pick up and go to be with their family, too. It sounds like your family needs you, and you know you want to go. So go.
Atlanta and friends and school and internship job can wait, or you can make other opportunities for yourself later. Ask first, whether it’s possible to pick up where you left off after you’ve taken care of your family situation, just so you know for sure you can go back if you want to. I hope your mom will be all right. Good luck.
It sounds like you’ve made your decision, even if you haven’t ‘made’ it yet. I say go for it. I recently moved from Massachusetts to FL all by myself, and my friends understood. They’ve stuck around, come to visit, call me every week, send silly cards, and just generally let me know they care. We work at it, though…with conflicting schedules and having the majority of our conversations over the phone, it can be difficult sometimes. But it helps solidify your relationships in the long run.
I don’t know if I’ve made it or not. A lot of friends in Orlando. A lot who want me to stay in Atlanta. There is a concern for conflicting personalities with my dad as he and I are both on the dominant side of the coin. He’s become a lot less domineering as I’ve gotten older, as compared to my childhood. I don’t know yet. I need to go back to Atlanta and see how I feel when I’m out of the house and not directly affected by the parents and the house I grew up in.
Thanks twicks. I’m taking my time with this and collecting as much input as I can. The forum is wonderful because it is unbiased. Unfortunately most of my family and friends have strong biases that will affect their input. Anyways, time for me to begin collecting my stuff so I don’t miss my flight.
I told the roommates what I was considering. None of them seemed really surprised, and they all responded mostly as I expected. One of them thinks like you all in that I’ve already made up my mind - something I am insistent isn’t true. I am trying hard to be rational and make sure I fully consider it all. However there is now a clock on this decision. I need to know within the week so we can finalize the deal on living arrangements.
I’ve had several long conversations with friends and family, especially jackelope my older brother. He’s offered good advice as always and I’m still hashing out my feelings on it.
I think the root of my discomfort with just making a decision is that I am disoriented. When I moved out of Orlando I was fairly certain I’d never move back. I had my eyes set on Atlanta and no where else. And now, I’m so close to going back that it is startling and I think scary.
Florida has a way of taking hold of you and not letting go. I think perhaps I’m actively seeing a reason to stay in Atlanta is my fear that Florida will capture me and I won’t be able to leave.
But then something in my head says, “rcp you’re just being dramatic. Calm the f*ck down and make a decision.”
I mean the parents could use the help and I’m in a position to help. When I simplify the equation, this is what it comes down to. And I have to decide if this is what I want to do. Am I a bad person for not going? Am I selfish?
I don’t know, I’ve been thinking about this for three days and I don’t know which way to go with it.
I hope this doesn’t count as bumping a zombie thread, but I wanted to give some updates.
I have decided to go down to Orlando. It seems like life told me last because none of my friends expected any less of me and most didn’t understand why I spent so long making the decision.
My parents thought I spent so long thinking about it because it was something I didn’t want to do. That’s not true at all. I felt very strongly about this, and the best explanation I can find to explain why I spent so long on it is that I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing an obvious reason NOT to go.
In any case, I’ve decided. And now it’s time for logistics. I’m going to pack light, bringing clothes, my computer, some books and stuff, and then I’ll leave the rest of my stuff up here. It’ll minimize the logistics needed for the move initially and if I decide to stay longer I’ll come back up to get it.
My brother asked me tonight how I felt about the decision and when I responded with the generic “Good” he asked if this was a “good-good or a relieved-good” and the truth is that it was a good-good. My soul was burdened while I made the decision and now it’s not.