The problem with packing is that you have to go through all your stuff.
And on some days those things mean more than others. Like, say, if you were crying all morning because you were having a hard time leaving your home, your community, your friends, and going to a new community (even if it's only half an hour away) to a new home, a new community and new friends that will hopefully understand you and accept you and not think you're totally weird and unlikable.
And maybe on the same day, as you're finishing your noon hour shift at your kids' school, you see your 10-year-old crying and a story unfolds about how he's being bullied by a couple of kids, and how it's been going on for a long time, and he can't stop sobbing and it makes you want to start crying all over again but you don't because you have to stay strong for him and hug him and bring him home early and cuddle him on the couch and tell him everything is going to be okay.
And then, you're packing up your life and you find this empty maxi pad box that you're just about to put in the recycling bin, when, suddenly...
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| "Hey... Or whatever." |
You realize it has a face.
A sad face.
And maybe you wouldn't have noticed it on any other day, but you did today. And you can relate to it so much that you give it a name. You can't possibly imagine throwing it out now because it has a name, and who throws out things that have names?!
Not me, Sad Paddington. I don't. Like any emotionally healthy person, I distract myself with said named objects and a camera, taking them on a tour of the house and projecting all of my emotions onto them.
I figured Sad Paddington has a hard time accepting life on life's terms, and I was right. She's so emo it's rumoured she coached Trent Reznor through the Pretty Little Hate Machine LP. Just a few minutes following her around revealed so much:
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| Sad Paddington realizes why she bombed the lead guitarist audition. |
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| Sad Paddington tearfully concludes the EDM festival circuit is also out of the question. |
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| Sad Paddington is overwhelmed by the packing. She might also be a little hurt that nobody gave her a single M&M out of that entire box. |
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| Sad Paddington feels like a square peg in a round hole. |
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| Sad Paddington struggles with body issues as beach season approaches. |
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| Sad Paddington contemplates ending it all. |
Don't do it, Sad Paddington. We have to keep our collective chins - or, uh, whatever you have - up. Gutsy needs to march into that school with his head held high tomorrow. I need to not be left alone at all for the next several weeks so I don't start crying again. And you need to step away from that fireplace.
Tomorrow is going to be better for all of us.
Or, well, for me and Gutsy, anyway. Now that I took the pictures I'm going to flatten your boxy ass and stuff you in between the pizza boxes. You didn't expect I'd take you to the new house, did you? Please. I don't want people to think I'm weird.