Once upon a time, some friends of mine traded in their car for a pickup truck. It was the right decision for them at the time, because it enabled them to do some things they couldn't do with the limited trunk space of a car.

Someone else in our social group went batshit insane when she found out, because then she could no longer be chauffered around by them all the time. It's not like she couldn't drive herself; she had a car, she had a license. But she preferred to be driven, and she felt that my friends should have taken her desires into account when making their own life decisions.

So.

It's hard enough to leave all our friends. It was hard moving out of Tampa — among other things, it pretty much ended the Calais Consort, the rehearsals for which (and the hanging out afterwards) were always the high point of my week — and it'll be even harder to leave behind all our friends in Florida. And it doesn't help when some of those friends get angry and won't even speak to us, instead of being supportive of Karen following her dream and taking advantage of a fantastic opportunity.

I can understand not being thrilled that we're moving away. I'm not thrilled about it myself. But it's not the end.

Our parents live in Florida, so we'll be back fairly frequently. If my boss can get approval, my job will still be in Florida; and I'll be flying back every now and then for job-related things, usually staying over during the weekend with nothing to do. Round-trip airfares to Tampa or Jacksonville cost $99 (not bad, considering it now costs $60 in gas to drive down to Tampa and back); and with the cost of living so much lower where we'll be, we'll have the means to travel more frequently. Of course we're going to do everything in our power to get together with our friends whenever we're down here.

So for those of you who have been supportive, thank you; it means a lot to us both. To those few who have not, please... don't act like That Person.