Okay, it might not have ACTUALLY been this date, but it was 20 years ago that I was preparing to graduate from Oberlin College. I had decided in my senior year that I wanted to move to Seattle, based on having spent a single day in this fine city. But other than that, I had done nothing. I had no job, no place to stay, and knew virtually no one. Not only that, but I didn’t even have a way to get there. I had a plane ticket to return to Florida.
A few days before graduation, a friend of mine approached me. She said, “I’m driving out to Seattle to play in a steel drum band for the summer. We have room in the car. Do you want to come?”
I thought about it for a moment and consulted with my parents, who were there for the graduation. My dad said, “You can always come back home, if it doesn’t work out.”
I said, “Dad, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I’d rather go slime fish in Alaska than move back to Florida.” We all laughed, I packed up a duffle bag and hopped in the car to drive West.
I met people who helped me, I found a place to live, I managed to get some work and I met the love of my life. I’ve made so many friends and have always always always since the day I moved here felt that this is where I belong.
Hi Jill,
Our stories are similar!
I took a road trip up the coast from Berkeley with my best friend, Christine, during the winter break of my senior year. Although it was the dead of winter, I fell in love with the green and the mountains.
During the following summer (1993), I had a job with the Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) which, though based in California, had me working for a Seattle energy consulting company. At the end of the job, I asked them if they would give me work if I moved to Seattle. They equivocated.
Meanwhile, a friend of Christine’s had a friend who was moving out of her room in a house in Ravenna.
That was enough for me to take the leap, and I’ve been here ever since!
Ha! That’s so funny! It’s always gratifying when we take these leaps and stick the landing :D.