I just adore the friends I’ve made on twitter. For those of you who think you can’t make “real” friends online, you are dead wrong. I was having a really hard time thinking of something interesting to blog about and wouldn’t you know it, my dear friend Lindsay (@linzlovesyou) came through. She’s awesome and if you are reading ME, you should also be reading HER.
I moved to California 23 years ago. November 4, 1987. I will never forget that day because it was the day I became an adult. I got on an airplane and flew from Laguardia to LAX to start my new life. I always knew that I wasn’t going to live in Connecticut. I also knew that I wasn’t going to live in Philadelphia where I went to college. I didn’t pick Los Angeles. Los Angeles picked me.
Sometimes it is odd the places you end up in. Work might transfer you, you might get a job offer in some other state, but how often do we just pick up and move somewhere just because we want to?
I first experienced Los Angeles when I was about 16 and was here on vacation with my family. We flew to San Francisco and drove down the coast stopping at various cities along the way. Los Angeles was definitely the highlight for me. It wasn’t anything I could put my finger on. I wasn’t into Hollywood, didn’t see any celebrities, I had no interest in becoming an actress… or musician… or director… or screenwriter. It was just LA. It felt like home.
I didn’t know anybody who lived here. I didn’t know the area and wouldn’t have been able to find my way around. I didn’t have a place to live. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t care. I got on that plane anyway.
Thinking back, I’m surprised my mother actually let me go. Yes, I was 21 but I could never let my kids move clear across the country with no job and no housing and no relatives to fall back on. She was either really naive… or had a lot of faith in me.
23 years later I’m still here. I did find an apartment. I did find a job. I did learn my way around this crazy city with the endless freeways. I did make friends. I did make myself a life. I know it was the right choice. I knew it back then too. Sometimes you just have to listen to your gut and do what is right for you.
I often wonder if I would have enough guts to do it all over again if I had to. Just pick up and move to some unfamiliar city or state. Yes, I think I could. For years, I think people thought I would eventually end up back on the east coast. Now, I’ve been living in California longer than I lived in Connecticut. This is home. This will always be home. My kids are natives, my husband is a native… after 23 years I think I earned the right to be an honorary native Californian.
I don’t know if I’ll live in California for the rest of my life, but I know that wherever I end up I will be just fine. And I won’t have to do it alone this time, I would be taking a husband and kids with me. No, I’m not planning on moving anytime soon. Amazing how you even mention the thought and everyone freaks out on you.
But if it does happen, as long as there is a Starbucks and a Costco, I can call it home.
Love love love this post!!! I went to LA in 1996 and was out there for 2 weeks with my brother, he was stationed at 29 stumps at the time and I loved it out there. Cried all the way back to Alabama, but unlike you, I was too scared to move out there and I was 26! I am a legal assistant, I could have found a job easily, I knew people, I had made lots of friends while there and I'm still friends with them, although they are military and don't live there anymore. I LOVED IT! I could still cry and I've told my husband a million times he has to go to LA! And also like you, I never wanted to be an actress or anything and I never saw anyone famous, I just loved it out there! I applaud you!!! I really want to bring my kids and husband there, there's no place like it and it certainly isn't Ala-Freaking-Bama!
I can't believe you didn't have a place to live or a job and just got on the plane! You are one brave lady! Moving is scary, but to do it all alone is a whole 'nother story. Good for you in trusting your gut. I trust my gut often and it hasn't done me wrong yet either. I hope your enjoying the weather out there, it's a bit chilly here in the midwest.
I moved out to The OC in 1999 (I grew up in Connecticut, too! Though I lived in upstate new york, Manhattan, and South Florida before making the move out to Cali). And I have to say, even though my kids were born here, it'll NEVER feel like home. I'd move back East in a New York Minute if my husband would agree to it (he won't).
Glad you love it here.
Me? I like seasons. And East Coast people. 😉
Carolyn,
Knowing you back in your former life, during your Connecticut days, I must admit I was surprised to find out that you are happy living "all the way over there" in California.
I would like to hear more details on the differences that attracted you and have sustained you enough to create a fulfilling life.
Is it the environment, the people, or the pace of life? Details please.