littlest apple, big apple, pt. 3

THE LITTLEST APPLE IN THE BIG APPLE

PART 3 OF 3

April 28, 2021 You’ve lived in New York almost seven years now. You have made it your home. You have hated it at times—how nothing comes easy, carrying groceries for miles while satisfied that you got most of the things on your list. Subway lines that are always delayed. Being caught in the rain without an umbrella and only your own two feet to get you where you’re going. But when you’re away for too long, its siren song brings you home. A glimpse of the skyline brings you to tears. You have cried on the train more times than you can count. The subway has become your heartbeat—taking you to places you have never been—trying things you could never have imagined—introducing you to people that would challenge you and compel you to want more. You have fallen in love on the train and fallen out of love on it just as many times. You’ve read page after page on the train, always hungry for more.

New York will make you fall in love with yourself—in ways you never even knew were possible. In that small town all your differences were compounded and you learned to diminish yourself, your body, your mind. But in New York these things were celebrated, they attracted people, the kind of people that would make your life full. The kind of people that stay up late with you, exchanging secrets. The ones who will drop everything to get a slice of pizza or because you got stood up on a date. The ones who know how much wine to bring depending on if you are celebrating or commiserating. Did you feel the pull that first time you landed here? Did you envision the life that you could live here? Are you proud of yourself, little me? Because I am proud of you for making the choice to move to the great big beautiful city which has become the center of your universe. You did it. You made it. And you continue to make yourself proud every single day.

By Savannah Apple