A thousand miles from home

I remember this day like it was yesterday. A day I’ll never forget. It was August 1, 2020. The world was consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic and all our lives changed in an instant. But on this day in a small town in the countryside of central New York a young guy of the age of 28 embarked on the largest and most life-changing adventure he had ever made. That guy was me and on this day I loaded my car to the brim with everything I felt was most important to me scrambling around to make sure I didn’t miss a thing because I wouldn’t be coming back for a while and when I did this place would no longer be home. As the sun began to set I pulled up to Slammin’s house for she was the friend I was choosing to take the beginning part of this journey with, Slammin had her bag packed and was already rushing me to leave we found space for her stuff and we prepared ourselves for a long drive. As I set the GPS Slammin’ ran through her checklist “soda. Check. Snacks. Check” she said, “oh wait I forgot my phone charger?” I say jumping out of the car to run inside for the very last time. This day is most memorable to me because that day was the day I packed up my entire life and moved to Florida.

Why Florida you say? Well for most of my life I lived in the same town with the same people and nothing ever seemed to change no matter how hard I had tried. if I was going to move forward in life I needed to do something drastic and moving 1200 miles away from everyone and everything I knew was what I needed to do for me. I wasn’t completely alone though because once I got to Florida I would be staying with my best friend at times of family. Now that was an interesting situation but we’ll get to that in a little bit. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, as Slammin and I departed my home of 28 years there was a plethora of emotion consuming me. I was sad because I was going to miss the people I’d come to love and adore in the past 28 years. Driving by fort hill cemetery, which sat in the middle of town a single solitary tear ran down my cheek the memories I left there will forever be a part of me. As we hopped on the interstate my nerves started making me doubt the decision I was making but this is what I had to do. I remember reminding myself that it’s for the best and that good things were coming. Leaving behind my family especially my mother wouldn’t be easy but I figured the farther I had gotten the easier it was to escape my fears. Am I running from something? Maybe I am running toward some amazing future. On this day I did not know. Doubt and fear were fueled by this huge decision because once I arrived in Florida I would share a room with someone I’d held dear but who in turn resented me and eventually facilitated the events that had lead to me being homeless for the first time. In my hometown, I always had a mom to pick me up when I had fallen. That is why I needed this change. Auburn NY is a place I’ll never forget with its rich history dating back to the civil war. Unknown to most is this was the last stop on the underground railroad for no other than Harriet Tubman. Yes, you heard that right Harriet Tubman ended each of her journeys from the confederate south in this place and eventually lived her life here after the war. I was honestly lucky to grow up in such a remarkable place. But auburn wasn’t all it is cracked up to be for this was all the home of auburn correctional facility which is infamous and this is because that maximum security facility was the home of the first electric ever execution by electric chair. Now you are wondering why I even left or asking yourself why I didn’t leave sooner. But all that aside I had left because leaving meant hope for the future. I had left because I felt there was nothing left for me there in that black hole town in bum fuck nowhere New York.