The countdown began around 4 months. Accepted to OTZMA, 4 months until Israel. Here I am one month away from Israel, a week away from leaving Pittsburgh, the city I've called home for the last 4 years and about a bajillion things have happened since the countdown began.
What's the MOST significant thing that's happened over the past few months? Well, it's not that I began pawning off my furniture, carpets, bed etc. to my friends, or that I spent countless hours on the phone to the Israeli consulate in Philadelphia, Verizon to cancel my Internet, the post office to forward my mail, or any of the other hassles that are inevitable when you move and uproot your life...
Sure these things are significant but the moment it REALLY hit me, the moment when I knew things were changing was last night, when I took my keys out of my bag to unlock the door to my apartment. 6 keys. A key to my office (soon to be given back), a key to my car, 2 keys for my apartment, and 2 keys to my parents house. WHERE ARE ALL MY KEYS.
For those of you who see me often, you know that my bundle of keys is (generally) extensive. And in a weird way the keys have really come to represent relationships and responsibilities as I've grown here in Pittsburgh, coming a long way from just a Swipe Card/ID to get into Holland Hall. Keys to a Synagogue and to an office, to my boyfriends house and car, to a Yoga studio, to my very own apartment, all kinds of keys! A Janitor's delight.
With that said, keys are not usually a measuring device for self-worth or a gauge of aptitude or personality, i.e. we do not say, "Hi, my name is Nikki, I'm 22 years old, I love yoga, long walks on the beach and...oh yeah! I have 14 keys on a blue and yellow key chain!" (Therein would be a world where Janitors were Kings. sidenote: I do not mean to put all these societal stereotypes on Janitors!...they are wonderful and they make my clean world go 'round).
And so... with a silly little thing like keys I'm realizing that to me they represent responsibility, they represent trust, and an openness (pun definitely intended) often seen on sitcoms and in movies (Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler and Joey alllwayyys knew that the "door was always open").
Regardless, as much as I may try to stop it...over the next few weeks my key-chain will continue to dwindle, so much to the point that I will leave it behind. Life is moving on...it's twisting and turning and keys are coming on and off the little metal thing that drives me crazy. Some are left forever and some are just left in the junk drawer in my parents kitchen.
Thank you giant key chain. Thank you Pittsburgh. Cheers to what lies behind us, cheers to the excitement ahead!
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