Telling the (Folsom) Neighbors

Here I am setting up our 4th of July Neighborhood Olympics party in our Folsom court. (July 4, 2011)

Telling my Folsom neighbors about our relocation to East Sacramento is something I have been avoiding; partially because there are still so many variables in this project and partially because it was just so emotionally hard to do it.

It is easy to ride high on the happy reactions of my old East Sac neighbors (who have been so excited to see my family come back to 58th Street) but yesterday I told my favorite neighbor in Folsom about the move and it was like a punch in the gut. We had planned on staying where we were for at least two more years, a little over a month ago I had organized a neighborhood watch for our court and I had hosted a big Fourth of July party complete with our own neighborhood olympics. I even planted tulip bulbs! (You know when a woman plants tulips she intends on hanging around a while.) So when I brought myself to tell my first neighbor what was going on she was shocked.

The conversation actually started when she texted me in concern. I had left our little pushmower on our lawn with only one strip of grass mowed. (I had sustained injuries to my right arm that were being greatly aggravated by all the work on the house. I literally was in so much pain that I stopped mowing and went directly inside to ice down my hurt arm.) I try my hardest to keep our front yard looking very nice with a trimmed, green lawn and lots of flowers. So when she saw grass growing and the abandoned mower she was worried. I texted her back what was up with the mower and decided to talk to her as soon as possible so she would know what was going on with the move.

Later that morning it was cold and grey and I was barefoot when I said goodbye to my youngest daughter as she went off to school and we brought the mower in. My neighbor was dropping her son off at the daycare across the street while I was out. To be honest I had been avoiding the neighbors. Every time I thought about leaving the court and all these people that I had just started feeling close to it made my nose and eyes sting with tears. This court really was so perfect for a family and we loved being here. I almost cried a couple of times when I told her the story of what happened.

She had already known how we were barely making ends meet. My husband had to stop racing (his lifelong dream) and I was making due with clothes too big for me (I put a stop to my weight loss -I've lost about 50 pounds in the last year- because I really couldn't afford a new wardrobe) and we were constantly selling off our possessions and making do with less and less. When a family emergency dictated that my husband make an emergency flight back East the enormous costs involved used up any breathing room we had. Even without the unexpected rent increase it was a struggle to afford where we were living, it just wasn't sustainable with our current finances.

I explained to her how bittersweet this life-change was.  She was understanding and supportive -aspects I always felt were so wonderful about her- and it was all I could do not to tear up. We would be returning to the place that I had always considered "home" (East Sac) but we were giving up all the wonderful parts of living in Folsom. It really is a great place for a family to be.



Kids participating in one of the competitions while some of the grown-ups watch and shout encouragement. (July 4, 2011)


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