216 Homeshire Circle was my home for 10 years. After my parents separation, my mom went looking for a place to start new. She stumbled upon a two-story condo in a nice neighborhood with good schools. So, that condo became our home. My mom, my brother, and I moved in and settled down. This place would soon hold so many memories.

Right after the separation, I started having night terrors. I would frequently wake up screaming, and my mom would come comfort me. She would come in my room and try to rock me back to sleep. Sometimes she would sing, “If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops, oh what a rain that would be.” Most times, that would calm me down enough to sleep. However, there were times when I would wake up screaming multiple times in one night. No matter how exhausted she was, my mom would always come comfort me. My anxiety started to get so bad that I developed trichotillomania. It got so bad that I pulled all of my eyelashes out. In order to get me to stop, my mom bribed me with makeup. After a few days of pleading, I slowly started to stop. I cannot even imagine the kind of relief my mom must have felt.

As I got older, I made lots of good memories too. Sleepovers, many birthdays, and summer hangouts. I met my ex best friend living just two houses away from us. Though we are no longer friends, some of my fondest memories are of her. This goes to show that a place can hold not only negative memories, but so many positive memories. One really special memory is when my stepdad, Ravi, came into my life. At the time, I was less than thrilled to meet him. I was scared I was going to lose my mom. We definitely would butt heads over the years. We both came from traumatic and abusive pasts, so trust was inevitably hard. But as I grew older, we were both able to heal. Now, Ravi is more of a dad to me than my biological father. I couldn’t be luckier.
About 3 years ago, my family started to discuss the idea of moving. We weren’t gonna leave Wentzville, we just needed more space. With 2 adults and 2 teenagers living in a small condo together, things got very cramped. So, we started the process of looking for a house: we cleaned, we packed, we prepped, and we toured houses. Every step along the way was so exciting. It didn’t really hit me that we were leaving the condo until the offer on our new house was accepted. I remember thinking how exciting it would be if it went through. But when the time actually came, I felt my heartstrings being pulled in different directions. They were conflicted. I had spent most of my childhood and all of my adolescence in one home. How was I supposed to leave it now? I started to be more mindful by looking around at every little detail of my home. I wanted to try to remember as much as I could about the place I called home for 10 years. Eventually, I realized that wouldn’t be necessary. I have made so many beautiful memories over the years. So when it was time to move into the new house, it was bittersweet. I was sad about leaving, but so grateful for the opportunity to have those memories.