In the Review Mirror.

I pull out of the driveway of the house I have lived in for almost my entire life. There is a brand-new feeling in the pit of my stomach. It is unknown and uncombated, I know not how to cope with its influence. My car is in reverse but my life is moving ahead. I realize I will never live there again. The basement room I've called my own will now be used for guests, myself included. Future visits will be spent with suitcase in tow. The empty closets have bid me farewell. Gone are weeks and months spent there with nowhere else to go, nowhere else to be. I stare in the "review mirror" as I drive away -- leaving behind who I've been and where I've belonged for so long.

The tears come as they usually do - sprung from a few simple words on the screen, in my ears: You continue to be one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I needed to spend time with you more than you know. The goodbye waves in the driveway they just resonate and a trembling silence fills the air. I have barely left town and already the truth pulls me back - I am missed; I am loved. I drive down the highway through foggy vision. I leave behind pieces, yet take with me memories and the assurance of people who will never let me go. I replay everyday spent through the weekend -- running down the streets I've grown to love with her, sharing ice cream with friends, laughing until I can't breathe, riding in his truck talking about life, freezing memories together through a lens, crying as we say goodbye. They say that leaving gets easier with time, but I don't know how. It is never easy to walk away from the people and the places that you love.

My future awaits in the distant. The horizon signals unforeseen destinations and sings an unfamiliar tune. I look again in the review mirror, wishing for moments that have already gone. I'm stuck in the middle -- driving toward possibility and onward from familiarity. I will spend days clicking through photos and listening to somber songs. Transition is only hard when where you've been is as important as where you're going. It hurts because I've dared to feel. It aches because I've been privileged to love. Nostalgia sets in because I have touched truth and tasted authenticity. I have believed in a place in time; that place molded me into who I am. I have given my heart to people; those people have filled me with things I never even knew I needed.

On my journey, there are the things I take with me: Laughter; the little comments, random conversations, and silly circumstances that bring a smile to my face simply upon remembering their happening. It is the laughter that helps me breathe. Faces; those lights in the middle of this new adventure, reminding me they're by my side, giving me the courage to believe in myself, because they believe in me. Truth; the words God gives to me everyday through His message and the words of others, renewing my mind and equipping me with strength. Memories; the things I once desired are now among the things I will keep forever, hidden away in my heart for safekeeping. The beautiful thing about memories is they can never be taken from you and there are always more to be made. Tears; for often tears can be happy or sad, yet either is simply a type of cleansing, of healing, of shedding a feeling to make room for another. The tears make me stronger; they help me feel.

I reach my destination and look in the review mirror for the last time. I see sky, and I realize it is the same here, there, and everywhere. We are all connected; we are all people on our own journeys, but we are never alone. For paths cross, intersect, and merge -- for moments, for years, forever. There is nothing we leave behind that isn't a part of where we go. There is nowhere we will go where what we leave behind will not serve to empower us in some way. Our lives are a string of destinations, but they are all connected.

I am where I have never been. Still, I take with me people - for distance only separates as far as one lets it. And I take with me myself - for I am the same person here as there, although my surroundings change, inside I remain the same. Fear of the unknown will never replace my desire to feel, to know, to love. And so, I look ahead.