I lived in the West Seattle apartment for 15 years, Kelly 6 years longer than that. In that time, the neighborhood changed, from almost too suburban for my taste, to cramped and claustrophobic. In the last 6-7 years, the change became increasingly obvious, as single-family homes along the main roads were replaced by condos and apartment buildings. Lots were divided and even more clusters got packed in. Street parking disappeared, crime went up.

About 3 years ago, someone broke in through our office window. They didn’t grab much before getting scared off, but it was a sign of things to come. A year later, we had a home invasion while we were sleeping. We were lucky enough to avoid direct confrontation, but Kelly lost her purse, ID, social and insurance cards, and we lost some electronics – but most of all, we lost the want to remain in West Seattle. That was the day, we first started preparations to move.

Fast forward to when the West Seattle Bridge was shut down, and the now over-crowded, apartment-packed neighborhood was suddenly without its one main road in and out. That is when the feeling of urgency really kicked in – and Kermit House came along just at the right time.

We had a whole month to move out. Except for a week and a half towards the end, where Kelly was recovering from a concussion. She misjudged the stairs at the new house, missed the last two steps and hit her head. She is okay, but the first week was not great at all. Take concussions seriously, folks, they can be sneaky. There were plenty of bumps in the road along the way, but a bump to the head made us stop, and make sure Kelly was ready before starting back up.

And so, despite having the month, it was the last week where the final push took place. Kelly still had to sit out on the first half of the week, but the upside of that is all the weight I lost as a result. In the end, good friends with a pickup helped us get the last larger boxes out, and the final walk through took place. The keys were handed over, and that was that.

So long, West Seattle. Hello Renton.

On a side note, Fairwood Greens is definitely more suburban than West Seattle ever was, in the time I spent there. But that’s okay, because we are both ready for not having ferry traffic and garbage trucks rumble by, but having more birds and bunnies (BUNNIES!) instead. And no upstairs neighbor, with a toddler that has only learned to run, not walk. That’s a nice bonus.

The featured photo shows what I’ll miss the most from West Seattle. These two animals, a squirrel and a crow, got to know me over the years. The crow occasionally left me presents and would regularly cluck and click at me, approaching on sight, and the squirrel would knock on my window and come right up. They both brought their families, but it was these particular animals that knew me – the others just (warily) took their word for it.