I am not sure if you could tell that but I do.
I have lived in the tri-state area all my life. Although I always try to leave, it never happens. I end up going on vacation and missing New York like crazy. Although Europe came VERY close to stealing my heart... it just doesn't have the feeling I get when I think about how I, 25 year old me, can survive in the most expensive area in the entire country for years on my own.
Amazing things.
Now.. when I was trying to apply for college, in my mind, all I wanted to do was get the hell out of Connecticut, where I went to high school. I was looking in Hawaii, California, Arizona... anywhere that was really far away. My parents declined my interest in the West coast because it was too far away so I started looking a bit closer. My only choice because I was NOT going to Jersey, was New York.
I was not happy about this. I really didn't want to stay close. I graduated high school in 2002. 9/11 was the year before. My family went on a trip to Florida and we ended up watching a documentary on 9/11 and the fire fighters that died.
It was so moving and made me so sad that I decided from that moment on that I couldn't leave New York and that I needed to be there to be with all these people that went through all those things. Because me being there really saved them right?! But that made me make the choice to stay and then make my way to living in New York.
Although I haven't moved into the city, I live 20 minutes away and visit frequently. I love everything about New York from the streets, to the people, to the smell, to the look and the feel, to the bridges and the random things that happen all of the time. I love my life that I have built here in this little area that I call my own.
I wouldn't change it for the world.
Do you have a New York story?
5 comments:
This was such a sweet post to read. Some of my best friends live in New York, and it's one of my favorite places to visit. Such a magical city with so much spirit. I live in San Francisco, though, and I have similar loyalties to the Bay. :)
I love New York. I went there for my 16th birthday and I thought it was magical.
I've only been to NYC once, but I've been to several places upstate. I actually had lunch at the top of one of the Twin Towers and 4 months later 9/11 happened. I haven't been back since and that breaks my heart. I really need to go to Ground Zero.
do have a new york story. I hate it. I live in an upper-class neighborhood (doctors, lawyers, celebs and their pampered wives, etc) and I still can't stand the place. If I lived in the Bronx I might think I was biased. But despite my relatively easy transition here, I think Toronto is a lot cleaner, big and urban, and you can still get all the same things. Better things. Better and cheaper sushi, great independent coffee roasters (I used to be a barista)...I could go on and on. I was raised in California and long island has nothing on La Jolla.
I could elaborate on why I hate it but this is my first comment and it might sound mean. I blogged about my hatred of over-sized franchises that can be found everywhere else. In NYC everything is just bigger. And more spanish.
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