Today, May 10, 2021, is a unique day in my life. Yesterday,
I had spent the majority of my life in New York, and tomorrow I will have spent
the majority of my life in Arizona. That means that today will be the only day
in my existence when I can legitimately say I am half New Yorker, half
Arizonan.
Yes, it’s true. It was 25 years, 9 months, and 28 days ago that I officially
became an Arizona resident. And it was 25 years, 9 months, and 28 days before
that, that I came flying out of my momma’s womb and landed in Brooklyn, New
York. I am at a chronological crossroads in which I am a perfect geographical
hybrid. What does it all mean?
New York is my heritage, my roots, the first half of my journey. It is my
family, my lifelong friends, my schooling, my coming of age. It is where I
learned what pizza is supposed to taste like, and how to build a snowman, and
how to write like a Madman. It is cockroaches, and muggers, and gridlock
traffic. It is clubbing until 4 a.m., and movie theaters within walking
distance, and bagels and the New York Times on Sunday mornings. It was all of
these things for the first 25 years, 9 months, and 28 days of my life, and yet
remains all of these things – and a thousand more things—today and always in my
heart, mind, and soul.
Arizona is my present, my future, the rest of my journey. It is my wife, my
kids, my newfound friends, my adulthood. It is where I found my mature creative
voice, performed improv and community theater, and learned how to ride a bike.
It is scorpions, and dust storms, and 120-degree heat. It is ubiquitous Mexican
restaurants, unparalleled scenic beauty, and Friday movie nights in front of
the big screen TV with my family. It has been all of these things for the past
25 years, 9 months, and 28 days of my life, and will continue to be these
things – and a thousand more things – today and always in my heart, mind, and
soul.
Chronologically speaking my life is currently split in two, with one foot on
each side of the continent. As of tomorrow, the calendar tilts toward the West.
But the reality is that these two geographic locations, these two lives, are
woven into one life—my life. The parts make up the whole, and all parts embrace
my soul. I am not half New Yorker, half Arizonan. I am fully both.
