Goodbye LA…

I have dreamed of moving to Los Angeles since I was in high school. It all seemed so glamorous, living by the beach, never knowing when you would see a celebrity, and the weather seemed that of heaven. So when I made the big move to LA in August of 2020, I was incredibly excited. We were 7 months into the global pandemic and thought it was all going to end soon…HA. I was the definition of bright eyed and bushy tailed, with a strange combination of fear and anxiety. For years I had prayed about LA, praying that God would show me signs if it was where I was meant to be, and in late 2019/early 2020 God made it abundantly clear that I needed to move to LA.

Now here I am, a little over a year since I move to LA…sitting in the ATL airport, exhausted after packing up all my belongings, leaving behind the life I created in LA for a new adventure in Birmingham, AL. Life is so WILD. I never thought I would be headed back to Birmingham. I lived there for about 2.5/3 years before LA, and when I left I felt that I was done with it for good. But God had other plans for me. After 2 years of searching for a job, both in LA and all over the country, He provided a fantastic one in my favorite place.

The last year in LA feels like an absolute blur. It’s crazy how weeks and days can feel years long, but years can feel like a day. LA was an adventure. It was a time where I was challenged almost everyday, where I cried a lot, laughed even more, and grew more than I ever thought I could. I was terrified to move to LA. I had zero clue of what awaited me in that city and I questioned if I could “make it”. Well folks, I did “make it” simply because I took a major leap of faith and I did it.

As I sit here in the airport headed to Birmingham, my first day of work tomorrow (ahhh!) I feel numb. I know the feelings of sadness will come later but I think at the moment I’m in a state of exhaustion, shock, and no aspect of this life change has really hit me yet. But even in my “numb” state, I feel that I owe LA a proper goodbye — a “plane letter” if you will. So here it goes.

Dear Los Angeles,

Oh boy. Where do I even start? You are crazy. You are dirty. Your politics suck. But, you are beautiful. Your people are amazing. You are oozing with creativity. You are one-of-a-kind. You are magical.

I think I will miss the palm trees, the ocean, and the people the most. I will miss the nights in my cozy rent house, my quiet street, laughing with friends on game nights, the string lights that hang in the front yard, and the drives along the PCH with the windows down. I will miss your beauty. The way I could sit in my front yard and stare at the palm tree that towered above my house for hours blowing in the wind.

Now you aren’t perfect by any means, no city really is. Your issue with homelessness…it fills my heart with incredible sadness, confusion, and frustration. Your “street sweeping” and “parking restrictions” are just dumb. Your air quality ain’t great, and you always seem to be on fire?? You. Are. So. Expensive. Can you fix that please?

But even with your flaws, I really do love you. I love you because you challenged me. You challenged my faith, my values, my morals, my everything. You made me — nay forced me — to think about what I really want this life of mine to look like. I think I’ve been running from that for years, and you made me really think about what I want. Thank you for that.

Los Angeles, I will always love you. I doubt I will meet you again as a local, but I know I will see you again. For now thank you for the year, for the adventure, for the lessons and the growth. I’ll see ya when I see ya girly.