Twenty-five years ago today, I left most of my friends and my family and the place I called home for 20 years – Alexandria, Virginia. I never expected it of myself. I like to move and had many times, but mostly around Northern Virginia. (After the big move from my first life in Hawai’i, to my second life in Virginia.) It says something that I deliberately left on Friday the Thirteenth. In the few weeks prior, one of my best friends had given birth to her first daughter and my Mother had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. (Had she not responded so well to her first treatments, I might not have left that day.)

I still love the friends I left behind and think often of my misadventures among them. I still miss the DC-area just before my birthday, when the flowers there are spectacular. I don’t miss the traffic, the crowds, or even the cultural amenities.

Twenty-five years ago today, I left comfort and security behind to join Merri in New Mexico. I love her, this place, and our friends here. It’s good to be home.