Home Sweet Home

In between complaining about the sketchy construction site down the block and lack of adequate temperature control, I really did try to love Brooklyn. I did my best to make my apartment feel like home and take advantage of everything the borough has to offer. But I didn’t realize until I left, how uncomfortable I was there. It's kind of shocking to me. I thought I was settled and relaxed and happy to be there.

Then I moved to this new apartment. The difference between thinking you’re settled, and relaxed, and actually feeling that way -- will make you wonder what you were thinking! There’s a difference, it turns out, between everything you need being within walking distance and spending half your life on the F train; between your windows facing a slab of broken concrete and ones that overlook the Hudson River. There’s a difference between having your best friends two blocks away and having to carry your belongings Friday through Sunday because your weekend plans never include Brooklyn.

I feel safe here and at ease. I feel like this was exactly the right move to have made. Every time I come up the stairs and open the door to our roomy, charming apartment, I realize that I’m so much happier in Hoboken than I ever was in Brooklyn. It’s not just the relief, or the air conditioning talking. This place feels right.

I waffled about taking the apartment -- about the stress and cost of moving again, how long I was really going to be living here anyway, and whether it was just plain stupid to pack up and move only four months after I had just packed up and moved. For weeks Andrea listened to me say -- "I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to do it. I want to. I do. But, I mean, it doesn't make sense." Tired of my indecision, she said to me -- "No, it doesn't. But it makes the most sense for your happiness."

I paused a long moment and I nodded because I didn’t have a response to such an obvious statement. I called Keri the next day. You might have noticed that I am so very glad that I did.