Pacific Heights view of downtown San Francisco.
I’m thousands of feet above ground and two hours from my destination to San Francisco as I sit on the plane headed to my old stomping ground. As luck or fate would have it, I’m headed towards a new adventure that awaits. I am moving into a temporary apartment in San Francisco with my husband of 33 years where we will share time between there and Minnesota.
Just a few weeks ago, I had a rather extraordinary realization. After 35 years, nearly to the day, I begrudgingly left the Bay Area, and now I’m returning. At the end of June in 1991, I left my California Life. I arrived back in Minnesota by the 4th of July and it took us 3 or 4 nights to travel by car back home.
I’ve had 35 years of bittersweet recall of those seven years in my twenties that are among my favorite life experiences. I lived in Berkeley from September 9th, 1984 to January 23rd, 1991. The last several months I lived with a dear friend in her Montclair home in the Oakland Hills. I never returned to my Berkeley residence after January 23rd, 1991. When I arrived home after an exceedingly long day at work as a registered nurse, I was “greeted” by a stranger who laid in wait for me. I survived, but that’s another story for future posts. Suffice it to say, my life’s trajectory changed in a matter of minutes stretching into hours.
California and SF have always lived in my heart, even though I left to find psychological refuge back home in Minnesota. My permanent residence is in Minnesota, but over the past 33 years I’ve had the fortunate pleasure of spending consistent time in the LA area. My husband’s career has taken us there frequently, and all four of my children attended college in the LA area. I was on cloud nine each time I made a visit.
I swear that each time the plane touches down in this sunny land, I feel a full jolt of joy, anticipation and happiness. All of California holds that special place in my soul. You know it when you feel it. What is it about certain places that make a person feel that way? I’m not the only one who “gets that feeling” when a place touches your heart and soul, am I? I hope you’ll join me as I rediscover SF and the Bay area as a full-fledged adult who still feels young at heart.
Perhaps what makes this return so special is the realization that some places never really leave us, no matter how many years pass. And sometimes, if we’re fortunate, life gives us the opportunity to find our way back.
Please share what places you live or visit that give you that special high and what elicits that elated feeling! I’d love to know.