My family moved from a village to a town recently - it was a move out of necessity rather than a move we wanted.
I miss the village so much. It took me a while to make friends there as I’m socially inept, but I got to know people through my older children, and when I became pregnant again everyone was lovely to me and it became very easy to make friends. I miss having a daily chat in the village shop and going to the pub, saying hello to everyone I walk past, and feeling very safe walking around. Parcels and prams were left outside in the front garden and I used to leave my back door unlocked.
Where we are now no one says hello to each other. Our local shop is a supermarket. I went for a walk last night and there were intimidating teenagers on my path that made me turn back. The town is known for being rough, and though our bit is a bit nicer I’m keep seeing reports of assaults on neighbouring streets and burglaries. I asked DH to turn on tracking when he goes out for a run in the evening as I’m anxious for him.
I’m going to get to some baby groups and the local church to try to make some friends but it won’t be the same as before. I’m just feeling sad, anxious and lonely and mourning our old life. I’m sad my new baby isn’t going to grow up in the village amongst the other babies and go to the local school. Maybe we’ll be able to live in a village again but as we’ve bought home it will be a good few years before we can move again. All of the above was expected but I’ve only just begun to settle in at home and really feel the unhappiness now.