Dear Florida,
We’ve had quite a history. For almost the entirety of the last 29 years you’ve welcomed me and grown me and changed me. Really, there just aren’t enough words. Your beaches are glorious and you do sunset oh so well. You’re filled with fun and food and friends and our history is deep. Soft sand and spikey crab grass welcomed my first steps and that’s been the story of our interaction, really. Spikey and soft but welcomed in the good & bad; hard and beautiful.
August makes me want to run every time. You crank up the heat and dump buckets for weeks on end and it’s just all too much. But then you welcome me to stroll under the canopy of trees in the park and my hope in you is restored: maybe you aren’t so bad after all. You’re a delight in autumn when your temperatures dip below 85 and your air stops holding onto that tumultuous jerk: humidity. I’m sorry to say that I’ll miss that delightful time this year, but if you could save something nice for me in the Spring I’d greatly appreciate it.
You’re no stranger to seasonal lovers. After all, you’re home to how many Northerners every winter? Right. So I know that you don’t hold my wandering heart against me. You get me and for that I’m grateful.
We’ve had a good run, Florida but it’s been full of “see you laters” and I have to tell you that I’m pretty uncomfortable with those. It holds the weighty tension of the unknown in your face on the regular, the “see you later”. It’s no longer certain enough to make a big production but just unsteady enough to wonder if I’ve missed something important. In the past, I’ve treated them with grand gestures and going away parties to punctuate my packed boxes and booked tickets. This time, I tried to do it differently but it still feels unsettled with strange loose ends. Perhaps that’s just the nature of transition. There was no big celebration or send off but I don’t think that means my time away won’t matter to you. I know that I add value when we’re together and I’ll be missed til I come back. But I also know that your days will march on and there will be so many good things and for that I’m grateful.
Thanks for taking care of my people while I’m gone. You’re simply filled with gems who prepare their table and gather me to it; who make space on their couches and in their lives for me to be welcomed for whatever indefinite time I happen to be around. Thanks for the conversations around kitchen islands and the laughing-til-your-sides-hurt moments over delicious meals. I appreciate the countless cups of coffee and the people who are there for more than just highs and lows but are in it for the daily. Thanks for the beautiful gift of precious little ones who are adorable as can be with their dimples and giggles and hearts full of silly. Grow them well. Thanks for giving me people who understand my crazy and embrace my weird and love me in it all.
Florida, you’ve been the setting of my hardest season and now I can say that you’ve hosted one of my sweetest as well. Thanks for this “see you later” send off. I’m going to miss you this go around, but I know that there will always be space for me in your summer heat and in the hearts of my crew. I’m excited for what the next handful of months will hold. New sights and experiences and relationships will surely shape me and I hope to bring a refined version of me back to you.
Until next time, Florida.
