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About ten years ago, my uncle, aunt and three cousins moved from Ohio to Clearwater Beach, Florida. They had moved from Ohio to Connecticut, to North Carolina, back to Ohio and then to Clearwater Beach due to my uncle’s profession in sales. These moves all took place within twelve years, from the time my oldest cousin was two until she was fourteen when they moved to Florida. While they had moved several times, my cousin and I were quite close because we were only a year apart in age. Every Christmas, they would come back to Ohio and visit and we would be attached at each other’s hip not missing a beat when it came to starting to play together again.
There was a blissful period around the age of thirteen when they moved back to Ohio and we were able to see each other more often than once per year. About once a month we would get together and share what was going on in our lives. Again attached at the hip and not missing a beat with each other. Within a year and a half, we were the best of friends and that is when we found out they would be moving to Clearwater Beach. We were both heartbroken, especially my cousin who was really enjoying her new school and being around family.
They packed up their belongings and moved in the summer. We were sad, but promised to keep in touch and see each other as often as we could. When they arrived in Clearwater Beach she called me and said that this new town would never be her home. She wished that they could just pick up and move back. Once the school year started, things began to get better gradually.
Her senior year, I went for a visit and met her new boyfriend. She seemed so happy and liked where she was, but she still missed her Ohio home. A few years later, I received a phone call that she had gotten engaged to her high school boyfriend and she wanted me to be her maid of honor. The wedding was to be held in her new home of Clearwater Beach. After the wedding ceremony, I asked her where they would be living and she simply replied that they would live in their town of Clearwater Beach and it was then that I knew she had found her new home city.
