This past Saturday, August 28th, a personal anniversary of mine slipped by unnoticed. It was the 15-year anniversary of my move to New York. Well… to be correct, I first moved to Jersey City, and THEN to New York City.
Moving to New York was something that I had always wanted to do. I had been dreaming about it since high school, and though my life went in a lot of different directions, it wasn’t until about 2005 that I sort of got my shit together, and was able to start planning the move.
But as I think about it, and if I am very honest, I wouldn’t have been able to make the move happen without the support of my friends Alex and Rebecca. Alex was a friend of mine from junior high, and Rebecca was his fiancée at the time. They had a house in Jersey City, and they were kind enough to rent out their basement to me so I had a place to live and get situated. Without them, without their friendship and support, I don’t know how I would have gotten here. And then there was Rebecca’s parents, who would come and visit, and I got to know them, and they made me feel welcome and accepted me into their family group, which was an extremely gracious gesture.
And as I thought about Alex and Rebecca, I started thinking that in a larger sense, I’ve never really accomplished anything alone. I have been lucky to have friends and family who have supported me, and I really hope that I was the type of friend that supported in return. No one is an island, right?
