Arizona

Goodbye, New York

Greetings from a cave of moving boxes! We are slowly but surely packing up the brownstone. The truck arrives bright and early tomorrow morning and our flight leaves in the evening. The count down has begun. I’m feeling good. A couple weeks ago though I was having major, major second thoughts about our move. I…

Greetings from a cave of moving boxes! We are slowly but surely packing up the brownstone. The truck arrives bright and early tomorrow morning and our flight leaves in the evening. The count down has begun. I’m feeling good.

A couple weeks ago though I was having major, major second thoughts about our move. I thought about all the growing I have done over the past almost decade while we’ve lived away from all our family. These years have been so good, hard and important to me. Michael, who has always been my rock, reminded me that there are lots of good, hard and important times ahead too. The next day he sent me this quote by Richard Wright. It’s one of those good pieces of writing that can be about something very different, but can also speak straight to my heart and feel so very personal. I felt like this when we left Arizona, and I feel like this again as we prepare to return home:

I was leaving the South
To fling myself into the unknown…
I was taking a part of the South
To transplant in alien soil,
To see if it could grow differently,
If it could drink of new and cool rains,
Bend in strange winds,
Respond to the warmth of other suns
And, perhaps, to bloom.


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Here’s to another season for Jenny Komenda. Thanks, as always, for coming along for the ride. xo

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59 thoughts on “Goodbye, New York

  1. Best of luck for a smooth move and transition! Thanks for sharing the Richard Wright quote – I am moving with my fiance to California (from Seattle) at the end of this month, and I'm feeling all kinds of conflicted emotions! We've barely made it more than 50 miles from our childhood homes, and now will be two states away. Hugs to you and your sweet family!

  2. I'll join the others in saying thanks for sharing that quote. My husband and I moved 5 hours away from our families (and my sister and dad are even further away :P) two years ago when my husband found the perfect job after a year of job searching.

    It's been hard in a way (I had to leave my own career) but I think that quote embodies how we've tried to approach it (and we're not even really that far away :)). Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

  3. All great advice. For the most part, I'm of the belief that we really don't control our destiny's. This is your path and you're exactly where you're supposed to be right now. In this insane heat-wave, spending $$$ on air conditioning ;)♡

  4. i couldn't be happier to be along for the ride. I'm so excited to see the adventures that you and your family get up to in Arizona. And don't worry, moving is stressful, you'll adjust and fall in love with a new area all over again. And if you don't, then come back :)))

  5. Oh my gosh. What a guy. You are so lucky to have a husband who does so much at home, work at office, good parent, sensitive and supportive. Count your blessings Mrs Komeda.

  6. This is a beautiful post Jenny! That quote is perfect for those conflicting feelings that come when we leave a place where we have made so many memories. I am always grateful for those bittersweet conflicting feelings because it means that I loved the place I lived. I hope Phoenix will be full of memories for your family. We have family there too :) Maybe you will run into Kailee there! She mentioned that she saw you at ALT NYC.

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