When I was a little girl, I moved to St. Louis, Missouri. At the young age of one year, my world was changed. From then on, I realized that this “moving thing” was going to be a big part of my life. I spent 6 ½ years in St. Louis until I moved back to California, where my original home was. For most people, moving is a crazy thing. It takes hard work; it takes courage to be able to meet new people, as well as the strength to leave your loved ones.
Moving is an act that is so special and can also change your life; whether for the good or the bad, it’s your choice. Wikipedia says, “Relocation, also known as moving is the process of vacating a fixed location (such as a residence or business) and settling in a different one.” My dad, Steve Runnels, who now works for a drug discovery company in Kirkland, hasn’t always lived in his current city. For his work, he’s lived in five states, as well as Singapore and Israel. When he’s not moving, he’s travelling for the companies he’s worked for. My dad has made four of those moves with his family. Whether it’s with two young boys, or three kids, my mom has always been supportive and positive about all of the moving.
As Houston Magazine says in the August 1988 edition, “Last September, Runnels, Gamma Biologicals’ ambitious, 39-year-old president of export, visited seven countries in three weeks trying to expand his company’s presence in the hotly contested Pacific Basin.” Roseanne Clark, the author of this piece then goes on to say, “During a six-week period in April and May, he juggled Montreal, Toronto, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul.”
Moving can create a lot of problems if you’re going on without support, it can be physically exhausting as well as becoming one of the most positive experiences of your life. Myself, I have lived in four states, visited over twenty, and do not plan on stopping any time soon. Having gone through three of the moves with family, I understand all of the frustration in moving.
Sometimes the moves are too hard on people and they choose an easy way out, or they decide that they are just going to stay in one state their whole lives. That is completely understandable- why mess up such a great life with hassle and chaos. Some people love living in that small town, growing up and marrying their high school sweetheart and never regretting a single day. For some of us though, the hustle and bustle of moving, the “never looking back” feeling and the anxiousness changes lives. Living wherever you please, recreating yourself in each place (as long as you’re still you at the end of the day), and meeting new friends is the life that was meant for us.
Of course you then get into marriage and having to eventually settle down- unless you’re a flight attendant. Yet, most people are not living with planes as friends, a new city each night, or temporary clients. When settling down, it’s a choice you have to make to decide whether you want the life of constant circulation or if you want to have a family and stay in one state, at least for a while. Also, having children makes it more complicated to pick up and leave. “Military Brats” have lived the life of constant disorder. You get used to meeting new friends and packing up and going to new places.
Sometimes moving is not a choice. Circumstances can affect your current situations and that will then change your life. Whether you’re moving states, countries, or continents, there will most likely be others in your situation. And now, as I’m looking back at the last year, I see myself moving from Southern California to Washington. Now that I have experienced my moves thus far, I realize that it’s something I’m passionate about and that I will have to get used to this chaos if I’m going to continue. Moving is something that I believe everyone should experience at least once, but frustrations can be hard during certain times.
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