My first move was from my home state Michigan to Juneau, Alaska. It was explained that the location was chosen because it is the capital of the state. The journey was long and boring. The most exciting part was taking a ferry from Canada to Juneau which happened to be a tiny island, you could see from one side to the other. My parents took one look around and looked for the nearest city. Anchorage happened to be that city so we found ourselves on another ferry, crammed in like sardines on the way to the largest state in the USA. The first few weeks were hard; we camped a lot and stayed in hotels when the weather was bad just as we had on the way there. My father went from interview to interview while my step mom looked for apartments. After looking at least a dozen apartments and houses they chose a 3 bedroom unit in a triplex. It was a great neighborhood and I wish I could say we stayed there and lived happily ever after, unfortunately we did not.
About two years later my second brother was born, this expansion to the family created the need for a larger home. Again the search was on; luckily the price of a 3 bedroom condo seemed to be right. It was a much different atmosphere but I was quite happy that some of my friends were at my school as the areas had recently been redistricted. The neighborhood wasn't as nice and our yard was tiny, but my room was bigger and changing schools wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Unfortunately as the unrelenting winter set in, the roof began leaking - in my room. The landlord was contacted time after time, but when action was not taken to correct the situation we moved again.
This time our destination was a 3 bedroom home about 15 minutes from Anchorage. A little place right up on the mountain called Eagle River became our small town home. By this time I was 12, our last two moves had made me a new student in two different 6th grade classrooms, this move made me a new student again and it was awful. I remember being late because this school district started school earlier than the previous one. I watched as another new student was escorted down the hall to her 6th grade classroom and listened as the adults contemplated my destination. It seemed my teacher was a Mr. something or the other. The secretary handed me a folder, walked me to the door and pointed to a lonely building about 3 yards away. Give this to the teacher she said. The worst move of my life involved walking in the freezing cold to and from my classroom, the teacher ended up being a new teacher to the whole class - the result of some sort of exchange program. I don't remember her name or much about the class other than the fact that I missed several lessons between the schools. Despite the chaos I came to like that mountain, the quiet and nature I also took my first babysitting jobs there. Three years later we headed back to Michigan, but that's another story.
Avidan Banks
Avidan is the Sales manager
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