I Am No Longer A New Yorker

I am no longer a New Yorker.

There are semantic ways around this: I am a born-and-raised New Yorker. I am a native New Yorker. I've lived the majority of my life in New York. I am a New Yorker at heart. But the truth is, I no longer live in New York.

Today I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. At age 32, it is the first time I have lived outside of a major metropolis. It is the first time I have lived in a house, not an apartment. It's the first time I have been completely dependent on a car. So much of who I am is wrapped up in my ability to dress in black, jay walk skillfully and carry strollers up and down subway stairs. Or is it?

I will now find out. Will I still be me, even if I don't have a Thai restaurant within walking distance? Will I be me, if I can't hear pedestrians from my living room window? Will I still be me, if I don't have the greatest, the most beautiful, the hippest, the latest, a mere subway ride away?

I think so. I might need to reflect on how to charge my internal battery now that Broadway and Bloomingdales are no longer options. But self-reflection is what got me here in the first place: reflecting on what's important to me and my family right now in our lives. And those things are family, a good school for our children, a comfortable home, financial security, and time together. I feel certain we will find those things more readily here. And maybe even a Nordstrom's.

So let the adventure begin.

Comments

[Darrell]

Welcome to the great walled city of Salt Lake.