With the click of a door and the turn of a lock, my first phase of Cincinnati living has officially come to a close.
It's bizarre that I had to go back through two years of updates to find my first mention of Jess, in November 2010. I met her at a Habitat for Humanity YP event just a week after my dad moved me out of Walnut Hills. Still terrified of the city, Jess was the rock I needed most at that time -- a careful planner and always-alert woman, she never mocked my insecurity about being alone or my desire to only go out during the day.
Together, we found a few of my favorite places in the city -- Findlay Market, Sharon Woods, the Esquire Theatre. But this week, she's off on a new adventure: Yale Law School.
As we said our goodbyes tonight after a final show at The Esquire (if you haven't seen "Lola Versus" -- stop reading and go see it NOW. Especially if you're a single 20-something woman) and a dinner of half-okay sushi in Clifton, I got in my car and couldn't help feeling like the first act of my life here was over. Dunzo. Fin.
Recently, I haven't seen Jess all that often. She was busy training for the Flying Pig and -- oh yeah -- getting into every Ivy League law school in the country, and I was making new friends and exploring new things. But during that time, it became clear that she was that friend I could always meet up and pick up with, no matter where we had left off. I found myself losing track of stories tonight, thinking has it really been so long, I haven't told you that?
I have a few other friends like this, which comforts me as I uneasily come to grips with my constant leaving me. I'm sure it won't be too long until an email is exchanged, or a boy situation requires immediate attention. I'm also planning a trip to the east coast, which, of course, will require a visit to New Haven (70% for Jess, 30% so I can pretend to be Rory Gilmore for a day). And this isn't the first time I'm "losing" someone I care about because life leads us different ways. I'll never forget sobbing on my front porch after Allyson left my house the morning I left for CMU and she left for MSU. I'll never forget my last moments swigging champagne in my Jeep with my sisters as we squealed into commencement a few minutes late.
The difference this time, though, is Jess and I are going completely different ways. I'm staying in Cincinnati because -- well, I'm a big kid now, and this is where my job is -- and she's going back to school. I have no doubt her next move will be just as big, somewhere far away from the Midwest -- but there's time to watch all that unfurl.
Jess, thank you for being such a wonderful friend during such a trying time. Thank you for listening to my melodramas, and remembering the details of who's whom, whom I dislike today, and whom I may want to fall in love with tomorrow. And most of all, thank you for being such a big part of one of my greatest adventures.
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