I stood outside the lobby of our condo, unsure what to say to my friends who are also my classmates. I hold my tears and finished the last bite of ice-cream - the farewell gift from them. As I was entered into to car, a voice broke the silence "You will remember us, Dan, do you?". "Sure" I cried "how could I forget all the wonderful times we spent together." AT time one of my best friends, Raymond gave me a big hug and both of us were in tears. Finally, our car was moving. As I stared out the window, visions of past events overtook me. My life was changing in ways I could not control and predict. The only thing I knew for certain was that my life as I knew it had ended, and I was embarking on a new course. My family and I were off to USA. .
We were moving because my father has landed a new job in US. Although America was somewhat familiar to me, I felt a deep sadness at leaving the place I had grown to call home - Toronto. My heart felt empty. My mind buzzed with thoughts of leaving my Condo home, friends and school. My eyes welled up and a stream of tears fell silently down my face.
After an uneventful five hour drive, we made our way to my new home - a small apartment located in the South East Michigan. Although I was in pain, I tried to help my mom and dad set up at our temporary home. We spent days shopping in local Malls. Throughout our transition days, there were daily phone calls with my friends in Canada, especially with Ray. With time went by, I started to understand my dad's words during my departure in Canada - "Time will wash the pain and sufferings. Life will continue and life is beautiful, no matter how difficult sometime it may seem." As I became more involved with the day-to-day work of establishing a life in US, I began to recover from the change made a few friends in the neighborhood who surprisingly experienced similar transition as I did. .