So, I didn’t write a letter yesterday because I got swamped with schoolwork. And I guess I’m kinda cheating today because I’m not writing to a person…I’m writing to a place. But, it’s a place I love dearly and I get nostalgic for it this time of year. So here we go!
Dear Newcastle,
It’s been 4 and a half years, almost to the day, so I left on a plane headed back to the States. That plane ride was one of the longest of my life as I cried about the people, places and memories that I was leaving behind. The year I spent in Newcastle helped me to grow as a person in ways that I don’t think I can fully describe, yet I know the change was obvious to my friends back home. I came back a different person that when I left and I often had difficulties figuring out how this new me fit into my old life.
Newcastle was the first time where I was truly on my own, it was the farthest and longest that I’d eve been away from my family. I was forced to be completely independent of them and it was a valuable lesson. Through that independence I learned the importance of developing new “family units” and solid friendships to get you through whatever rough patches might occur. And I was blessed to have found a family unit that stayed solidly together the entire year that I was there. A unit that allowed me to be exactly who I was and encouraged me to grow into the person that I was becoming.
Newcastle you will forever hold a special place in my heart as I’m pretty sure I left tiny little pieces of it, along with my soul, scattered around the city. It’s impossible to pick them back up, yet I swear I could feel them settling back in place for a few brief days when I was “home” almost two years ago.
There’s a cozy little flat that overlooked the campus of Northumbria where I spent many nights sipping tea and laughing with my french boys. There’s the room downstairs where I spent nights staying up until the sun rose watching movies and sharing stories with the ucog girls. There’s the spot on the bridge that overlooked the A1 where I would escape to watch the world move past me. There’s the table in the downstairs of Starbucks where I shared confidences and stories with a good friend. There’s the bench on Northumberland where I would sit with my iPod and people watch, smiling at what I saw. There’s the corner booth at Pacific where we spent many nights laughing over pitchers or drinks and signing at the top of our lungs. There’s the room across the hall where I spent my time curled under the blankets talking quietly and sharing smiles until the wee hours of the morning. There’s the kitchen where I listened to a multitude of languages as I weaved my way through our party guests.
The list of places goes on and on, each one somehow seeming more special than the last. So much of my time over there was spent laughing and smiling and radiating happiness and now all of those memories cause tears to spring to my eyes. I suppose that’s how it’s meant to be and I value the level of emotion it stirs in me because I know that is a result of the profound impact it had on my life.
It’s amazing how easy it was to fall in love with the city, once I opened myself up to the possibility. It’s a love that I think I will always feel, no matter how much time has passed. Newcastle became my second home and I treasure the memory of that.
Love,
Sarah
