On leaving NYC

Last weekend, after nearly 4 years, I left New York City.

I moved to New York because I was running away from a life I didn’t want. I was burnt-out at work, I was depressed, and I felt alone. On a whim, I decided to leave my friends and family and move to a city where I knew no-one and, in fact, had never even visited. Thankfully, moving to New York was the best decision of my life. It’s where I learned how to make friends, and how to be a professional at work, and how to order a drink at a bar. Frankly, it’s where I learned how to be an adult. On a whim, I made a decision that completely changed my life.

So why am I leaving?

A little more than a year ago I started dating Malayna Hocker. She’s kind and beautiful and has made me a better person. And she’s a medical student at the University of Rochester. Being in a long-distance relationship is hard, and being in one with a medical student is, well, really hard. And, because of the pandemic more and more work is being done remotely. So, I decided to move to Rochester, NY, and we decided to move in together. It’s all incredibly exciting.

I moved to New York because I was running away from something. I moved to Rochester because I’m running toward something. This feels so much better.

I’ve met so many people in the past 4 years and more than a few have impacted my life. I really can’t thank them enough. A few have had an outsized impact on my life, and I want to thank them here.

• JD
• Jonathan
• Kelly
• Malayna
• Sergio
• Vic