23 years. I've spent 23 years living in this beautiful state. As I'm sitting in the airport now, I find myself rummaging through old memories and all the good times I've had here. Florida gave me a home. The sunshine state welcomed my parents from chilly Michigan decades ago and it provided the shelter, warmth and protection that allowed my family to live a happy life. It gave me an education. Hopefully a good one seeing how that same education has left a $39,000 deficit in my pocket! Florida brought some of the most beautiful people into my life. Some have walked out, some have stayed by my side, but every single one of them have left footprints in my heart. It showed me how to fall in love and how to cope with a broken heart. It taught me how to be patient, to put others before myself and to help the less fortunate. I have made many mistakes, all of which I have learned something from. I have grown here and it will forever be my safe haven. I'm currently listening to a playlist that I made last year for my lovely Samer Sansil's birthday. Each song on it brings back happy memories, both specific and vague. I'll share a few of them now.
#1) Wannabe - Spice Girls
- This was the ultimate high school jam. Courtney, Lea, Dani, Holly and I would jump around Holly's room for hours while laughing our heads off dancing and singing to this song. To this day, we still break out in uncontrollable foolishness whenever we hear it.
#2) Young, Wild & Free - Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg & Bruno Mars
- This song makes me think of the night I went to Orpheum with Robyn, Sam, Anthony, Natalie, Sherman and Adrianne. When we stopped by Robyn's place before going back to Natalie's to resume shenanigans, this song was playing while Anthony was sitting next to me with a pillow case wrapped around his hand from the injuries that Tampa Bay's rocks decided to inflict on him. Thank you Natalie for not letting me jump to my demise. :) Jameson and the Walrus. And gypsies. And eventually stitches. One of the best nights of my life.
#3) Brat Pack - The Rocket Summer
- This song makes me think of all the times that I sang it with Meagan and all our UT friends. I remember I sang it with Meagan, Meagan Tucker, Lisa, Sarah and Taryn on the way to see Jacob's band play nearby. We didn't get to see the show on the count of everyone being 21 except me. It was okay though, Jake told the manager of the bar to shove it and canceled his set for not letting me in.
#4) What's My Age Again? - Blink 182
- This makes me think of a lot of things. The Blink-182 concert I went to for Courtney's 19th birthday. Always running around like a crazy person. All the dares I've done over the years. Dancing in public, singing awful when everyone is watching. Ya know, typical Erin stuff.
#5) The Great Escape - Boys Like Girls
- This song came out my senior year of high school. It was the perfect jam to end my high school career. I listened to it on the way to graduation and I also listened to it on the way to Tampa for my first semester of college in the Summer of '08. Leaving Port Charlotte was a huge breath of fresh air for me. I left that town and I told myself I was never going to look back. Never have I, nor do I plan to.
#6) Luckie St. - Cartel and Weightless - All Time Low
- These songs make me think of Courtney. All the sleepless nights we've had. Crazy roadtrips, countless videos, too many pictures to count. Basketball games. Finishing each other's sentences. Laughing about the smallest of things. Stupid fights that we eventually got over. I have never had as much fun with anyone else than I have had with that girl. Here's to many more years full of many more unforgettable memories.
#7) We Are Young - fun.
- There is a collage of memories with this song, but it always involves the same people. Sam, Chelsea, Anthony, Joe, Alex, Patrice, Adrianne, Jenni and Maggie, literally screaming this song as loud as we can out of the windows in Sam's old Kia. I remember always feeling a sense of completeness whenever we sang this song together. Like anything could happen in that moment and it wouldn't matter.
#8) Summer Girls - LFO
- This song reminds me of the house that I lived in until 5th grade. The album this song came off of was released in 1999, which would have been my last year living in that house. It makes me think of how I had to move into Adam's room so Kevin could have mine. I didn't mind though, I thought living on the top of Adam's bunk bed was the best idea ever.
#9) Seventeen Forever - Metro Station
- This song makes me think of Winter Break in '08 when I lived with Kaitlin in her apartment in Hyde Park. My little air mattress on the living room floor. The time we got groceries from Sweet Bay down the street and all the eggs ended up being cracked because I forgot to check them before I put them in the cart. The time Meagan and I carried a thrown away (but looked brand new!) microwave into the kitchen, and it didn't end up working. What kind of person doesn't own a microwave anyway! I believe she did end up buying one after I moved out haha Good times.
#10) In This Diary - The Ataris
- No specific memories come up for this song, but it does always remind me to keep a light hearted perspective when it comes to growing up. I think too many people relate maturing to also letting go of the young soul that likes to have adventures living inside of them. Becoming another year older should never tell your inner voice that it's time to stop exploring the world. I believe the second you tell that voice to be quiet is the exact same moment that you end your life, whether you are still breathing or not.
I am now sitting in the JFK airport. Back in good old New York. While it isn't the state I was born in, I do feel like it's my true home. I feel at ease here. I feel in my element. I see everyone on the train, in the street, at the coffee shops and I know these are my people. I'm still growing as an individual. I'm still learning things about myself every day. I imagine these things won't ever stop, as there is always room to grow and learn. I just know this is where I want to do it. So to Florida, I must wish you farewell. Please take care of all the people that I love so dearly and my little fur ball Coco until I can move her up here in August. Thank you for these past 23 years, I wouldn't change any of it for anything.
I love you.
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