last night.

Tonight is my last night in my apartment in Philadelphia. Although I'll have a few more nights in the city, tonight feels more like my official "last night." This weekend I'll no longer be a resident, I'll just be a visitor. I have experienced and grown so much in my short time in Philadelphia, and this has all happened because of this 275 square feet that I've occupied above the As Salaam Barbershop at the corner of 15th and Christian. I moved to Philadelphia not because I specifically chose this city or had a job here, but because I found this apartment and just had to have it. I know it's odd to be so attached to an inanimate rectangular thing surrounded by walls, but all the growing and learning I've done by being in this city is because of this apartment drawing me here, and I will miss it and all it's brought to me very dearly. I can't wait to begin the next chapter of my life, but I'm definitely torn about leaving this one behind. I took this photo from my bedroom window just a few minutes ago. It's the view I fell in love with the moment I stepped into the apartment for the first time, and the view I've loved for ten months. I've taken comfort in hearing the call of prayer from the Muslim Temple a block away, smiled as the visitors from the barbershop congregate outside and talk loudly about love, life and politics, enjoyed watching the community garden grow in the once-dilapidated empty lot just around the corner, and I've taken delight at the beautiful hats and suits the church-goers where on Saturday mornings to the 7th Day Adventist Church across the street.

Maybe one day I'll come back and reclaim my spot in the City of Brotherly Love, but for now, it's time to move on and go experience something new.