Los Angeles Didn’t Win

Los Angeles didn’t win, but it didn’t lose either. I never put “the” in front of 405, 5, 101, or even 110. I didn’t spend countless hours at the beach. I didn’t find myself consumed with celebrity culture or at parties in the Hollywood hills. I didn’t give way to vanity and self-importance (qualities I think are wrongly leveled against those who call Los Angeles home). I didn’t work to make this home. We knew upon arrival this wouldn’t be forever. Los Angeles would be an education; an opportunity to learn some things about ourselves and then move on to the next great adventure. Without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, Los Angeles provided lessons, friends, and opportunities that will last me a lifetime. For these gifts, it is hard for me to look back in regret. For almost three years, I called myself an Angeleno and I am immensely proud of that fact.

We moved here with the intentions of Brandon pursuing a culinary degree and I wanted to expand my knowledge of the nonprofit sector. Not everything went as planned. We tried, we failed, we learned, and we grew in unimaginable ways. With this chapter of our lives closing, I think it is important to pause and name those things that changed us for the better. I also think it is important for us to share this experience. We have no way of knowing what lies on the other side of change. We can plan ourselves in the direction of some sense of calm, but undoubtedly…