Where to Now?

Having finished college and returned from Block Island, I don't exactly have solid plans for my future. For awhile, i had been planning on moving to Boston this winter with Sara. I was really looking forward to it and had been telling everyone all about my exciting plans. However, just two weeks ago, I got a surprising email from Sara, who is currently traveling around parts of Europe. Apparently, she is having so much fun there that she is seriously contemplating renting an apartment in Florence and attending grad school there.

While this is a huge surprise and would affect me considerably, I couldn't help but be excited for Sara. Though she is not positive about her decision, she would love to live in the same city as her sister and new brother-in-law, and I know that it would be an amazing experience for her-- one I would never expect her to give up for some previous idea we may have had. I would love to do Boston, and I would miss Sara like CRAZY if she moved away, but I completely understand-- it's Italy!

However, though there is still the possibility that Sara won't stay in Europe, I need to start making some decisions. I'm not working and I need to get a job soon- either here or in Boston. Since receiving her email, i've been going back and forth-- do I take the chance and wait for Sara to make up her mind, or do I just get a job here in Philly and stay local for the winter?

There are certainly advantages to both. In Boston, I would be in the same city as many of my friends, just a few hours away from Block Island, and have the opportunity to see new things and meet new people; In Philly, where I haven't spent significant time since high school, I would be able to catch up with family and friends, save money by living at home, and would be just a short trip away from DC and NYC where, like Boston, I have several friends living.

I've gone through the pros and cons of both a million times, but in the end, it was one small thing that swayed me. Browsing through Myspace yesterday, I noticed my friend Anna had changed her profile picture. It was a snap shot of me and her alongside our friend Cindy, our arms thown around each other's shoulders, huge smiles on all our face's.

It was a simple picture, one in which I didn't even look particularly good, but it made me so happy. It was like so many pictures we had taken in highschool, when the three of us were inseperable, always acting wierd and getting ourselves in trouble. It made me long to have some of that back-- minus the curfews and homeroom meetings, of course.

And, along with Cindy and Anna, there are many other friends I have missed so much over the past four years, and who I would finally have the chance to spend time with if I stay here. There's my cousin Emily, who is planning for her wedding this summer; My friends Kim and Danielle, also Springsiders, who have just returned to Philly after long absences; My girl Megan down in Maryland who, despite our tri-weekly phone calls, I haven't seen in well over a year; or my dear Nana who, at eighty six years old, won't be around forever.

So just as Italy is an opportunity I think Sara should not pass up, this is one I can not let get away. I can't keep neglecting the people that I love so much who are living here in Philly and places nearby. And, more importantly, I WANT to spend more time with them. Boston will still be around next year, and I can always take weekend trips to BI and visit my loves there. But, right now, i'm ready to get reconnected to my hometown. So if you need me, you now know where I'll be.