Thank you Chicago

I started this blog about three years ago, when I left San Francisco, my home of six years to go get my MA in London. When I returned the US rather than go back to San Francisco where I could probably now only afford a shoe box to live in, Mike and I decided to give Chicago a try. I had only spent a weekend of my adult life there, stopping by on a trip home to Michigan to see my grandma and explore with Mike. I think we were there for about 48 hours and pretty much only doing the typical touristy things.

Chicago made sense though, as the closest major city to my parents and sisters. It had all the things the two of us required -dance, pilates, a big body of water and major league baseball teams. (Can you guess whose concern that was?) It was nice after more than a decade away from the midwest to not be immediately called out on my accent, although that still happened here too.

I had an idea when I finished my MA that I might not be done with school and last fall I started the process of applying to PhD programs. At that point I’d been in Chicago about 9 months and although I liked it, I didn’t love it and certainly didn’t feel like it would be that hard to leave. Somehow between then and now Chicago really began to feel like home. I ended up working at two great pilates studios where I had amazing coworkers and really enthusiastic clients. I decided to produce a dance show -the first I have ever completely self produced- and in the process I met the most wonderful talented group of artists. Even just the process of looking for a theater was fun. I’d visit venues and if they weren’t right, they’d give me suggestions, point me towards other resources. Although I don’t have a Chicago show on the books now, I would love to do another show there because it was such a great experience the first time around. Thank you to everyone who was part of that process.

During this year in which Chicago really became my home I got accepted into the Critical Dance Studies PhD program at University of California Riverside and got engaged. So here I am, once again, with big changes on the horizon.

I read this article a few months back as I was getting ready to leave. It was written by someone leaving London which made me nostalgic for my brief time there but even more so made me think about my upcoming departure from Chicago, -particularly this quote “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

Thank you Chicago. I will miss you because of all the kind, fun, loving, wonderful people I met or reconnected with. (Polar vortex is not on this list.)