to me, boston is...

saturday morning coffee and pastries at flour, even when (perhaps especially when) the snow is up to our ears. compelling conversations about ideas for justice in healthcare and education and allocation of our nation's resources.
clam chowder, corn bread and a seasonal sam adams at union oyster house.
welcome visitors and touring the gd freedom trail.
a four (okay, usually 5) hour bus ride to good friends in the big apple.
3rd row at sufjan and dancing in the aisles.
long walks along the river and over the bridge into cambridge, or through the public gardens, or past fenway during a game.
an apartment that's too cold in the winter, but gives us an excuse to sit under blankets, drink tea, and watch a movie together.
weekends in the library, equipped with jolly ranchers and ever-evolving keynote study guides.
french-toast-stick-stress-eating after exams. (yes, the simmons cafeteria has those. and yes, i am 27 years old and will eat french toast sticks when under large amounts of exam stress.)
rude drivers. rude pedestrians. rude coffee shop patrons. (and the probable truth that it's all rubbed off on me and i'm now more east coast than i realize.)
2010-2011, the worst winter in years. trudging through the snow on my way to school. wearing cowboy boots on icy sidewalks and almost falling fifteen times.
learning from compassionate and skilled instructors and nurses, and the compassion and growing skill of my classmates.
six a.m. coffee in the dark with christine on the way to orchard gardens and boston medical center.
inpromptu dance parties. in the library. in the kitchen. in the street.
a bike ride to charlestown, and two rockers climbing the bunker hill monument.
cape cod for the weekend, even in a hurricane.
quaint new england towns. the beach and ice cream in summer. cold beer and seltzer water.
the best hospitals in the world. innovation in health care and education.
and obviously, so much more.

it's the place i became a nurse. the place i first finished a bed bath and linen change, gave my first shot, did my first assessment, first advocated for my patient, began to use clinical judgement and collaborate with other healthcare providers, the place i cried often because it all felt like too much, the place i learned that i can do this and i will be good at it someday. the place my passion became my career, and the future grew ripe with opportunity.

so, thank you peter. thank you christine and meghan. thank you magen, daryl, mego, kate, bri, caitlin. thank you to my classmates and friends, to my instructors and patients. to amy, bryan and daniel. to mary flynn and matt, meg, julie and nathan, katie, bryn, kayly, jenn and holly, emily, chris and adam. joe, kim and little s, and the rest of the lenox's. jack, mary and ty. amy, timmy and maddy. mom, dad and barb. even to those hard-hearted northeasterners who welcomed me here with their inappropriate f*bombs and disdain for anyone in their way on the sidewalk. without any of you, i would have been one lonely, sad, lost girl.

instead, i am filled - with gratitude, hope, sadness to say goodbye for now, and anticipation for future road trips, reunions and reasons to get away for the weekend.

my cup overflows.

*and by the way, if anyone is even reading this, i'm a nurse! and i've moved - this time temporarily to chicagoland, while i figure out what's next.