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Thursday, August 04, 2005
Epilogue
It's really starting to sink in that I'm moving from Wilmington and to a completely new and foreign place. The move to Tampa has been looming for about four or five months now and it's right around the corner. In three weeks I'll leave Wilmington one last time as a new graduate with a catalog of memories, both good and bad. Who knows where I'll end up, but I don't like to completely close the chapter just yet. I've called Wilmington "home" for the past four years (albeit a second home) and I'm not prepared to say goodbye just yet. I know I'll be back, but I'm not sure for what purpose.
The only part of the upcoming trip that I'm truly nervous about are those last moments before I say goodbye to my girlfriend at the airport. The most I've been apart from her over the past year has been maybe a week at the most. Since her and me both call Winston-Salem our hometown and UNCW our college, there was little opportunity for us to really miss each other. If all goes as planned, I'll be in Tampa for at least the next two years, maybe more. Who know where she is going to end up. I think about that alot but I keep coming back to the present and remind myself that the here and now is what's important. Planning is important but too much of it can lead to disappointment. I've never been in a long-distance relationship before but I know that we'll be fine and that this will prove an exciting experience for both of us. Two of my close friends have succeeded at long-distance (one from here to New York and the other from here all the way to Australia). How I handle my feelings and experiences in the context of being 10 hours apart will be an exercise in my training unlike any other. While learning about Maya archaeology and the history of anthropological theory I'll be examining myself, which I feel is going to pay off.
I can tell things are starting to wrap up because my activities in Wilmington have been taking on new meaning over the past several weeks. A few days ago the lady and I drove down to Fort Fisher and caught the 7pm ferry to Southport and enjoyed a comfortable dinner on the deck of The Shrimp House. The view was magnificent and symbolism was all around. As I ate my pound of jumbo shrimp I had a great view of an industrial lighthouse in the distance. Every few moments it would flash brightly two or three times in my direction as if it were calling me. Was the lighthouse symbolic of Tampa? Was I being signaled to relocate? As I had these thoughts and complimented myself on how deep I was being, I realized that I had just consumed a Newcastle rather quickly.
(Expanded on a recent entry from my personal blog, The Journal)
Posted by Will at August 4, 2005 09:30 AM in Graduate School