. . . with dear friends, moving furniture. It was hard work and I mashed my hands more times than I care to remember, but it was just what I needed.
It was also a day of 'firsts' - first time driving with a trailer. First time backing a trailer.
And then, at 12.51pm, we sat on the deck of my friend's house, looked out over Lyttelton Port and remembered.
So much has changed. Yet I have to be careful that I don't confuse 'earthquake' changes with 'returning to work' changes. I'd only been back from maternity leave for just over a month when the earthquake happened so in some ways it's hard to separate out the experiences. I feel as though I haven't seen nearly enough of these dear friends in the last 12 months. Some of that I can blame on the earthquake, and some of that comes from working full-time again.
I am so grateful that my family and friends got through this alive and relatively unscathed. So grateful.
Tonight, after Little Man was in bed, I walked back in to Latimer Square, retracing that panicked run of a year ago. I haven't been back since the earthquake. The building where I used to work is now just an empty lot - one of many. This time all I could hear were cicadas. It was such a stark contrast to the chaos of a year ago - both peaceful and a little bit heartbreaking.
I'm so glad the anniversary is over. I spent it the way I needed to, and now I just want to move on.
