A Change in Place

12 Jun, 2026

My sister recently moved out and now I'm living on my own¹ for the first time in like 4 years.

Before I moved back to this house, my dad's house, I had my own apartment for a couple years. It was through a support program that had been helping me develop life skills and was seeing me through mental health recovery.

I would say that I did okay living on my own. I had developed my own chore routines, budgeting, groceries and meal planning. I had a lot of that figured out, until the last couple months.

I ended up very depressed by the end of those 2 years. I was lonely, and the anxiety made it hard to leave. By the end of those 2 years I had to move back here, to my dad's.

I sometimes wonder if I didn't have that option, would I have been able to make it work? Would I have been able to overcome the depression and continue living there?

Maybe, probably. I don't think I would have become who I am today if I had stayed there. Moving back here gave me a chance to breathe, to figure out what I wanted, to become the person I am. I think I would have gotten to this point, this person I am today regardless, but it would have taken longer.

I've grown a lot from the person I was at 22 to now at 26, almost 27. Moving back here gave me the space to grow in ways that would have been more difficult had I been living on my own.

I'm living on my own again, mostly, so I get to see how that might change, how I might grow differently.

I was sad when my sister moved out, but I'm happy to see her moving forward in her life, doing what's best for her and her family.

I'll miss the spontaneous conversations we had, the sounds of my nephew laughing or running around upstairs. I'll miss being in their orbit.

We'll still have our spontaneous conversations, although more likely over call or text or when she decides to randomly drop by. I'll still get to see my nephew and hear his laugh or his stories. I can join them on errands and go over to their new place, spend some time in their orbit.

It won't be the same as it was, but that's okay.