Dear New York,

How can I put my gratitude into words? You have been my goal and my home during some of the craziest years of my life. Granted, you’re the reason they were crazy, but that only made me love you more. Yeah, you smell totally gross, your public transportation sorta sucks, and it’s impossible to see the stars. Personal space doesn’t really exist, and yet it’s so easy to get lonely. There’s something about you, though. You make me feel like I belong. You’ve seen it all, and when I need something-- well, anything really-- it’s just a few blocks away.

I talk to so many people who have the “New York’s a great place to visit, but I’d never want to live there” mindset. I could probably stay forever, though. When I walk across Park Avenue on 41^st Street and look up at Grand Central Terminal, when I smell the fresh grass in Central Park, and when the sirens in the street put me to sleep at night, I wonder how anyone could want to leave. When I make it all the way up the stairs out of the Columbus Circle Station without passing out, when I watch the skyline from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry at sunset, and when I stand at the edge of the World Trade Center Memorial, I fall even more in love. I will never not crave expensive diner waffles and Irving Farm chai lattes and Zabar’s almond croissants.

You have a charm that I can’t explain, and I know I’m not the only one who thinks so. New Yorkers are one-of-a-kind, but everyone is so different. Whatever we were before, we fit right in. You give us all the opportunities we never knew we wanted. You pull us out of our comfort zones to give us chances we can’t find anywhere else. We love you, and you love us right back.

I’ll always love you with all my heart. I’ve tried for years to figure out why, and I can list the things that I love about you all day. I still can’t put my finger on it, though. New York, I know you’ll always be there for me, wherever God may take me in life. I know I’ll always have a home if I need it. The memories I’ve made in New York are some of the best memories I have. Times Square (read: the sixth circle of Hell) still makes me feel like I’m in the right place (for about ten minutes, then I want to die). The Staten Island Ferry is still one of my favorite things ever. Nearly melting while walking through Penn Station actually puts a smile on my face, because I’m right at home.

I can’t express how grateful I am to have something on this earth that I love so much. Most people don’t have that. New York, you’ve given me more heartache than anything else has, but you’re also one of my favorite things in the world. I’ll always love you, and I’ll never be able to explain why. I know I’m not the only one who loves you, but you mean the world to me, and I can never thank you enough for all you’ve done in my life.

All my love until we meet again,

Caroline