I love my life in D.C. I feel lucky every day that I walk out my door and see the Capitol building. It inspires me. It’s an easy city to live and work in. I’ve been blessed, and continue to blessed, my incredible opportunities at every turn. And loads of wonderful friends. I am lucky to make my home here now.
And yesterday I had my first New York City pang. Just one and it was small. I saw a mention of Riverside Park and I was transported back to the Upper West Side, a neighborhood I called my home for seven years. It was my dream neighborhood. And I thought about the breeze off the Hudson as it floats over Riverside Park. It’s where I adopted Phineas. It’s where some of my very best friends still live. I was, and remain, a New Yorker to the core.
And then I had to remember that I was in love with a New York City that is largely no longer there. I’m in love with the place that New York had in my life and the lessons it taught me. And what was there now, what will always be there, is its energy and all those memories. Those are always worth revisiting. I suspect it’s time for a visit soon. I need a fix from the homeland.
My dream life has always been a life in which I could split my time between these two amazing cities that are so different and yet also have so much in common. I am a ways off from there but I continue to believe in its possibility.
Christa Avampato 