the old apartment

alan and i went over to our old apartment today, because we still needed to pack up a few things and bring them back with us to the new apartment. we've been looking forward to this move for such a long time that i guess i wasn't really expecting the flood of emotions that swept over me when i walked in the door and saw our place, looking so empty and naked despite the handful of boxes and trinkets in various rooms.
this was our first real apartment together, with both of our names on the lease. this was where we lived when we got scoop, when we graduated college; this was where alan proposed to me, with a pathway of little notes that led from the front door to the back balcony; this was where we were living when we got our first real jobs, when we got married, when we celebrated our first year of marriage and our fifth year of couple-dom. this was where we lived for four out of five-and-a-half years of our relationship.
there are so many beautiful memories that it's hard not to get a little teary-eyed to see it looking so sad and lonely. but i know that memories live inside of us, not in places or things. we will always have those memories, and we will create more memories in our new apartment. and i'm so very thankful for that.