People always talk about ‘new beginnings’. It’s one of those super cliche phrases you hear all the time.

And cliche or not, they can be really great. I mean hell, I’ve had enough of those in my life, for as long as I can remember.

But I feel like people always ignore the other side of the coin — The ending. You can’t have a new beginning without one, can you?

Well, we’ve had a lot of endings around here lately… Well, Harper has, I mean. My little girl is growing up way too fast. And Hope and I are trying to get through it the best we can.

As of last week, my little girl’s done with school — forever. We were so relieved that she managed to pass all of her exams… Even math and history, though those ones were pretty much by the skin of her teeth.

We used to have all these crazy dreams about Harper going to uni. We were so sure it would help her find some direction. But you know what? We’re still proud of her, no matter what. And if she changes her mind and decides to try uni someday, great. If not… Well, as long as she’s safe and happy, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

We’re so happy for her. It’s so exciting for all of us… but maybe a little scary too.

Harper dropped kind of a bombshell on us last week — Now that her exams are over, she’s planning on moving out.

To live with Erik.

Yeah, we were… surprised, to say the least.

Though I guess we really shouldn’t have been. Especially not after that talk we had with Tante Joce a while back. It was exactly what she predicted, wasn’t? That Harper would want to leave as soon as she turned eighteen.

We told Harper that it’s not the best idea to rush into something like that… But she wasn’t having any of it. Of course she wasn’t.

But at least it didn’t turn into another screaming match. She was so mad at us, but I was really proud that she was able to stay so calm about this whole thing (well, relatively speaking). And in the end, well… Saying we gave her our “blessing” is pushing it.

But we respect her choice. We’ll keep expressing our concerns as best as we can, of course. Hopefully we can help change her mind. But if this is what she’s gonna do, we aren’t going to try to stop her. It’s not like we can anyway. She’s an adult now. And if this is what she wants, we’ll try to support her as much as we can.

And I completely understand why she wants to do this. I mean hell, I was younger than Harper is when I was begging Tante Joce to let me move out. I know exactly how she’s feeling right now.

I just guess it would be a little easier if she was moving out to go to uni or something. Live with a roommate, maybe. Not move in with this older guy she’s only been dating for a few months. Especially not one who throws wild parties and smokes pot…

I’ll admit it — Erik is a very nice young man. Obviously I wasn’t too crazy about him at first, but he’s really proved himself to be a gentleman. He’s kind, smart, respectful… And he takes good care of Harper. Hope and I see that now.

But I still worry sometimes. Smoking pot seems so harmless. But who knows what else he could get mixed up in too? Or worse — get my little girl mixed up in?

I mean, I had my fair share of experience with that kind of shit when I was a kid. Maybe not doing it myself… But I played a way bigger role in that world than I ever thought I would. I know how easy it is to get caught up in that sort of thing. How tempting it can be. How harmless it can feel at first…

Then the next thing you know you’re covered in blood, stumbling through the door of your Tante’s house, and wishing you never left in the first place.

Alright, I’ve gotta stop thinking stuff like that. Harper isn’t me. I’m gonna drive myself crazy worrying about her like this. But it’s hard not to. I can’t tell you how many nights Hope and I have stayed up talking about it.

It ust feels like Harper doesn’t trust us anymore. We can feel her pulling away from us more and more. And moving out, well… She can’t really pull much more than that, can she?

It’s scary to think of what could happen to her when she’s on her own. When she doesn’t have us there to protect her anymore, y’know?

But at least I’ll still have her nearby at work now. I got her started as a hostess down at LuzLicht last week.

That whole situation was pretty damn confusing at first, I’ve gotta admit. I don’t really understand why she quit her other job so suddenly. It just felt completely out of the blue. She’d been telling us all about this raise she was supposed to be getting, then about a week later, she’s telling us she quit because of some issue with Nyla.

Hope doesn’t seem quite as worried about it as I am. She says maybe Harper just wanted a change. And I guess that’s possible… Hope’s always been so impulsive, and our little girl definitely has a lot of her mother in her.

Maybe she really wasn’t getting along with Nyla anymore. Maybe she just got bored with it. Hell, maybe with her moving out, she wanted an excuse to have me nearby if she needs me?

Okay… That was wishful thinking. But it’s nice to dream, I guess. To imagine that my little girl will always need her Papa.

That’s probably what hurts the most. What makes this ending so difficult for me — The feeling that we’re losing her. Harper used to be such a happy little girl. We used to be so close. And now…

It was hard for me to admit it… But I know a lot of this is my fault. There’s so much I wish I’d done differently when she was growing up. All these mistakes I wish I could take back… But it’s too late for that now.

All we can do is try to be supportive from now on. Make sure she always knows we’ll be there for her no matter what. Just like I promised Opa all those years ago.

And if that means letting her move in with Erik, well… So be it.

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Forgive me for a bit of shameless self-promotion here! But a few Simlit buddies and I have teamed up to collaborate on a new project called Pack Showcase Simlit (click the name to visit the site!).

It’s a unique blog where we will showcase gameplay, build mode, and create-a-sim features of new Sims games packs through our favorite medium… Simlit! Instead of traditional reviews, we instead use the new pack features to create brief short stories that highlight certain game features.

Right now we are featuring short stories that highlight different aspects of the new Cats & Dogs expansion pack. We currently have two stories posted for you to check out, and will be releasing more a few at a time. So if you are interested in learning about some pack features while also being entertained by some Simlit one-shots, be sure to follow! We will be releasing content for the next few days, and will have new stories fresh and ready for you guys when new packs are released in the future 🙂