Dear New York,

I know, I know.

It has been all quiet on the western front. And, I left faster than you could say "South of the Mason Dixon."

And, that's where I went- back home to Maryland my Maryland. Back to the house I moved into as a 12 year old, back to the bedroom I called mine through college and beyond, and back to the people who walked through all of those adventures alongside me.

But, I didn't mean to leave without saying goodbye. And, of course, I couldn't forget two memorable years of your streets and avenues and parks and people. Now, I could certainly forget other things. I could forget, for example,

...all-store meetings at 7am at the Crew
...a monthly rent that demanded my firstborn child and my bone marrow
...the January snow
...the sleeting mid-February snow
...the slushy-surprise mid-March snow
...the freezing April rain (is there a pattern here?)
...the highway robbery for a drink at Starbucks
...and (how could we forget!) the 16 gazillion part-time jobs

But, I digress. We were speaking about what I wouldn't forget- memories I'd like to bottle up forever. Sight and sounds that will always hold a place in my heart. What will I remember? Oh, let me tell you!

Dinner with Dad at the Oyster Bar
Dinner with Dad at the Union League Club
All of my siblings visits
Shakespeare in the Park (with Anne Hathaway!)
Breakfast with Dad at the Plaza
New York streets at midnight
Bike riding in Central Park
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Fashion's Night Out on the UES
Metro North to NJ to see Becky
The MegaBus to Philly to see Alisa
The Vamoose Bus home to see the fam
Georgia's Bake Shop
The Shakes Shack
Dinosaur BBQ
Celeste
Cafe Lalo
Morning in the city
The Martha Stewart show
Brad Paisley at the Garden
The Knicks at the Garden
the Central Park Reservoir loop
Rockefeller at Christmas
Brunch with Mom at the Boathouse
Radio City with the whole family
The Rockefeller Tree lighting ceremony
The Nutcracker with Kristina at the Lincoln Center
Pioneer Woman's Columbus Circle book signing
Buying a Christmas tree with 9a
The Kandinsky exhibit at the Guggenheim
Times Square at night
Grand Central Terminal at night
The city, covered by snow
Milkshakes at Roxy's
Jabu!
New York delivery men in a snowstorm
Monday nights with Beth Moore and the girls
The St. Agnes branch of the NYPL
the 50th Street subway station
The World Vision Half Marathon in Queens
Emily's visit!
Alisa's visit!
Becky's visit!
Rebecca's visit!
Rachel's visit!
Kristina's visit!
Central Park West
West 89th Street
apartment 9a, all of it

That's what I'll miss about you, New York. That and a thousand other things I probably haven't realized yet. But, by golly, I sure don't miss those slow-walking tourists.

Lots of love,

Your Uptown Girl

And any night you can see Times Square
Tremulous with its busloads
Of tourists who are seeing all of this
For the first time and last time
Before they are flown
Back to the republic of Azerbaidzhan
On the shore of the Caspian,
Where for weeks they will drream of our faces
Drenched with an unbelievable light.

-In Praise of New York, Thomas M. Disch