'Who would've known how bittersweet this would taste?'

The thirty-third one

After 14 unforgettable years, I’ve said goodbye to New York. It was a place I dreamt of living one day and finally got to call home. It’s where I met my best friends, my husband, and my calling. Where I found pieces of myself I didn’t even know were missing. It’s where I experienced joy, heartbreak, growth, and every inconvenience imaginable. It’s where I tasted success, learned how to worship and pray and speak up and laugh loud and advocate for myself and walk with purpose.

New York was the city that made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. And so, here are my goodbyes. Only a few, because the list could go on forever.

Goodbye drug dealers in the park and double parkers…
Goodbye to handball block parties on Manton Street…
Goodbye train traffic and showtime on the A train…
Goodbye Books Are Magic and Kew & Willow where I spent too much money and never regretted it…
Goodbye to summers on the Concourse…
Goodbye Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and that UES apartment…
Goodbye Hillsong Church and all its life-changing seasons…
Goodbye deli cats…
Goodbye to the walking city where streetlights are more like suggestions…
Goodbye to pick you up actually meaning I’ll meet you at the train…
Goodbye to the elderly Asian ladies working out at sunrise on South Street Seaport…
Goodbye Miss Korea BBQ where I had a third date that never ended…
Goodbye Halal truck on Adams Street in Brooklyn…
Goodbye to vermin—those with wings and those without…
Goodbye alternate side parking and that time I fainted on the Union Square 4 train platform from the heat…

Goodbye Church of the City New York and thank you for reviving my faith in the Church…
Goodbye possums at the Cortelyou Q train stop…
Goodbye TikTok Diner and late-night hangs with people I’d just met…
Goodbye Gee Whiz Diner where I frequently skipped class for a good meal…
Goodbye to my 25th birthday at Slate Nightclub and all the drama that followed…
Goodbye to my first gyro, eaten by the Museum of Natural History and the love story it began…
Goodbye to the one lady who asked if I was okay as I cried at a Bronx bus stop…
Goodbye 2016 snowstorm and sledding in Central Park the very next day…
Goodbye late-night drinks with friends in the lobby of the Ace Hotel…
Goodbye to drinking Snapple and sunbathing on the High Line…
Goodbye surprise parties in Sunset Park…
Goodbye mistaking the Chrysler Building for the Empire State building…
Goodbye to walking 30 blocks down First Avenue just because I couldn’t believe I actually lived in New York…
Goodbye to the Coffee Shop-turned-Chase Bank in Union Square, where I once showed up for a waitress gig and left when I saw all the tall models…

Goodbye date nights at Sexy Taco in Harlem…
Goodbye free Stevie Wonder concerts in Central Park…
Goodbye to that one time my friends and I snuck into a Justin Timberlake concert at the Manhattan Center…
Goodbye Lombardi’s and Grimaldi’s and the pizza debate that will never end…
Goodbye The Wing Flatiron where I developed a deep love for avocado toast and frosé…
Goodbye Butter & Scotch and the best birthday cake I’ve ever had…
Goodbye Two Saints and 10 p.m. drinks with friends who made life better…
Goodbye Briarwood Queens Library guy who spent 30 minutes helping me find one book…
Goodbye Martha’s Bakery on Austin Street and breakfast cheesecake and coffee…
Goodbye Bar None and those free shots on New Year’s Eve and that bartender who definitely had a crush on me…
Goodbye impromptu Prospect Park photoshoots on sunny afternoons…
Goodbye Blue Note live music and that unforgettable lesson about open container laws…
Goodbye walking for hours and talking with friends…
Goodbye East Village hookah bar and unforgettable moments with the best coworkers…
Goodbye rooftop hangs and Broadway shows…
Goodbye to Bareburger in Brooklyn and watching Tom & Jerry with a full heart…
Goodbye Cranberry’s on Henry Street where the idea for Smile On Me was born…
Goodbye pop-ups, block parties, and spontaneous BBQs…
Goodbye Brass Monkey and the epic 30th birthday party with my friend Tiffany…
Goodbye Gaslight Nightclub where the dancing was always the best…

🫶🏽