5 Years

 
Saturday marked the 5 year anniversary of my moving to D.C. I wrote about the 4 year anniversary last year.

I didn't like it here for a long time. So I gave myself 2 years to start liking it. Though, honestly, it took longer than that. And I'm not quite sure when I stopped counting the days. Yet somewhere along the way, I did stop counting the days. Somewhere along the way, I created a life for myself that includes a good job, a happy apartment, favorite haunts, fun hobbies, and out-of-this-world friendships.

I'm very stingy with the word "home" and I don't use it lightly. It takes a lot to make a home, most of it intangible, most of it based on feelings, most of it difficult to put into words. And since I prefer thought to feeling, until I figure out a way to define the word using more words, I'll continue using it sparingly.

So I'm not calling D.C. home. Yet. Because when I close my eyes and say the word all I see is North Carolina and my hometown and my family and my twin bed with the bad mattress. But when I open my eyes and see D.C. and my apartment and my friends and my queen bed, it is close to being home. And that's enough for now.