I fell in love three years ago.
We first met in 2004, a brief encounter that left little impression. When we saw each other again in 2008, I began to suspect that maybe, just maybe this friendship would go somewhere. In 2009, fueled by visits to the ubiquitous coffee shops that seemingly stood on each corner, the friendship blossomed. And by 2012, as with any friendship-turned-relationship, there was no turning back.
I fell head over heels for this place, this city: Seattle.
In 2009, I arrived in the Emerald City with Mum as my co-pilot and as many possessions as fit within the confines of my VW Jetta. One month ago, I alighted a plane at SeaTac Airport with a one-way ticket to Detroit, accompanied by Mum, two little boys, two cats, and as many suitcases as the airline allowed. Dan and his dad followed in my Jetta and his GTI, retracing my personal Yellow Brick Road 2600 miles back across the country, and accompanied by one dog, one guinea pig, and as many possessions as fit into the two cars. A moving van containing a house-worth of furniture and boxes followed. Clearly, a lot happened under the watchful gaze of Seattle in the intervening years.
Those years in Seattle were undoubtedly pivotal. I arrived on the brink of my 30s with a British boyfriend in tow. Dan and I initially intended to get married, start a family, and then move back to Michigan after two or three years in the Pacific Northwest. Then somewhere around that three year mark, with a wedding behind us and an infant in our arms, the plan changed. Seattle was never meant to be our forever home, but we began to feel comfortable in its embrace.
How strange that the plan changed yet again when Dan was unexpectedly offered a job in Metro Detroit last autumn. How strange that I\’m back in the place for which I once longed whilst missing the city that was a stranger to me half a decade ago.
How lucky I am to have collected five years\’ worth of memories and friendships in the Emerald City. There\’s no place like home, and how lucky am I to call Seattle one of mine?
How lucky I am to hold Seattle in my heart.
To Palimpsest 