What Happens at Katie's, Stays at Katie's
Going away party last night. Beer, shots of tequila, Mike's Hard lemonades, and other items just took a while for me to recover from today. The tequila - it was a gift from Lisa down the street (there won't be much left for margaritas next week, but boy, did we have a super time last night!). I sure am going to miss these neighbors, these friends. 11 years, from the scary Silvia days (a certifiable and sick neighbor we watched leave in a body bag), 11+ years of often Fergie-sponsored block parties, the party where the crazy girl threw up in the wok, living through the transvestite brothel months, having 2 babies while living in this house - both delivered walking to and from the hospital after 2 c-sections and just 2 nights in!, and just this past Friday baby #1 finally learned how to ride his bike (sans training wheels) on the street.
As I posted the list of everyone on the street for the new folks moving in, and added notes about "who's who" and who got entered in bold as "awesome neighbor" with dog and cat names, to the very few bare "nice" or "don't know them well" - I stood back and realized - all of these fabulous people would now be THEIR neighbors. They better be some cool folks moving in to our house. We're handing over a lot of memories in this excel spreadsheet of our little black book.
Coincidentally, the only two families in our enclave, us and Stephanie and Mike, are moving out on the same day. We're somewhat of a rare breed, having small kids in this section of the city. But as luck or life would have it, Jen is pregnant, and Patrick and Eddie are adopting in like, June! We've carried the torch for the neighborhood for the most of the 11 years. Now, it's their turn. It will certainly be weird to return to the block party in May and have to use someone else's bathroom - where it used to be ours as one of the home bases. Maybe Anna Nicole will also have to make a triumpant return just in time for Halloween this year - she was certainly the hit this past year (and always a slam-dunk standby costume, safely tucked away in the bottom drawer next to the faux urn of J. Howard Marshall).
Too often I find that I am just getting to know someone just as they are moving on. It's kinda like May and June of teaching - just as you get to know the kids, it's almost summer vacation. And last night was similar - here we were sharing crazy stories about teachers we knew in common (even from upstate NY), to even wild vignettes about our pre-neighbor days, the kinds of things you only reveal to friends who could possibly appreciate the sentiments. And though it took me until about 2:00pm today to feel like I was recovering from the night before, I did remember waking up feeling grateful that not only were we surrounded by wonderful people whom look out for each other, I also felt thankful (or hopeful) that whatever happens at Katie's, stays at Katie's.
As I posted the list of everyone on the street for the new folks moving in, and added notes about "who's who" and who got entered in bold as "awesome neighbor" with dog and cat names, to the very few bare "nice" or "don't know them well" - I stood back and realized - all of these fabulous people would now be THEIR neighbors. They better be some cool folks moving in to our house. We're handing over a lot of memories in this excel spreadsheet of our little black book.
Coincidentally, the only two families in our enclave, us and Stephanie and Mike, are moving out on the same day. We're somewhat of a rare breed, having small kids in this section of the city. But as luck or life would have it, Jen is pregnant, and Patrick and Eddie are adopting in like, June! We've carried the torch for the neighborhood for the most of the 11 years. Now, it's their turn. It will certainly be weird to return to the block party in May and have to use someone else's bathroom - where it used to be ours as one of the home bases. Maybe Anna Nicole will also have to make a triumpant return just in time for Halloween this year - she was certainly the hit this past year (and always a slam-dunk standby costume, safely tucked away in the bottom drawer next to the faux urn of J. Howard Marshall).
Too often I find that I am just getting to know someone just as they are moving on. It's kinda like May and June of teaching - just as you get to know the kids, it's almost summer vacation. And last night was similar - here we were sharing crazy stories about teachers we knew in common (even from upstate NY), to even wild vignettes about our pre-neighbor days, the kinds of things you only reveal to friends who could possibly appreciate the sentiments. And though it took me until about 2:00pm today to feel like I was recovering from the night before, I did remember waking up feeling grateful that not only were we surrounded by wonderful people whom look out for each other, I also felt thankful (or hopeful) that whatever happens at Katie's, stays at Katie's.
posted by veetha at 8:07 PM
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