My neighborhood.....or Vaya con Dios uptown

I'm feeling a little nostalgic this evening, a little down i guess. My time in my neighborhood is slowly coming to a close, and god damn if I'm not feeling sad about it. I miss the girl too. But thats a subject for another time.

I moved over here about three years ago, and if you count the fact that I spent the majority of my time spending the night at my exes apartment, you can say that I've spent the better part of the last four years living on pretty much the same block.

I moved here, and it was supposed to be temporary. My ex and I lived together in a much nicer neighborhood, but she moved to go to school in Texas. She was going to stay with her parents for awhile, and after a year I was going to move down there and we were going to get a new start, and a new apartment in Dallas. So I moved a block away from my work. It was cheap, close, would save me money on transportation, and I already knew the area. I knew that it sucked though. Lots of crazy people, lots of poor people, and gang violence up the ass. But I knew where most of the gang violence was located and knew that I could probably get away with avoiding those areas for a year. 

Things broke off with the ex. Long distances, and part of her having this instinct to run at the sight of anything too serious doomed our relationship. But I stayed, and I healed. I met my best friend who lived right down the block from me. I had a relationship with a woman, that was pretty much contained in this neighborhood. I fell in love twice, and had my heart handed back to me twice. But I'm gonna tell you, over the last four years, I fell in love with this shitty part of town. 

Walking off the train tonight, feeling the warm breeze against my skin as I walked "home" for one of the last times, I began to remember all the good things about this place. Everyone knows me, I chat with the owners of the shops over here. Through my constant "porch beers" I pretty much know everyone on the block. We stop and chat, I ask them about things going on in their lives and they do the same to me. "hey were you around when that guy locked himself in the bathroom and the cops ran in guns drawn?" "Nope." But I heard about it. 

This is the first time in my life I can say that I've experienced what community feels like. About neighbors reaching out and being interested, about the little chats you share when you walk to the train to go to work, or when you bump into them at the local coffee shop. I love them all. 

But I have signed on to leave this neighborhood in which I am mayor. Sadly I guess I must resign.  But the memories I have will remain, porch beers, friends, lovers, my little apartment, Christmas trees, and snowy nights, the local watering hole, and trivia, walks to the beach, and to my favorite store. 

So now I look forward to February, its gonna be my first opportunity to come back home.