How to say goodbye to a city
I left my city, Boston, to travel the world for at least a year or two and coming back to it is an unknown. So, I needed to figure out how to say goodbye to a city that has given me so much.
But how does one say goodbye to a city?
I did a few activities of what I thought ”goodbye” meant:
- Go to all my favorite restaurants
- Walk around all my favorite neighborhoods
- Hang out with my friends
But it still didn’t feel like I was giving Boston a proper goodbye. One that was between me and the city, in a similar way one says goodbye to a friend.
The car I rented to do some errands had time left before I needed to return it. So, I decided to drive myself to a hike in the crisp winter air.
North of Boston is a park called Middlesex Fells. I usually park near the northern part of the park because it had better views of the scenery.
But this time I parked at the southern part.
I start walking up the hill and saw a sign for an overlook, so I went to check it out. Having never been here before, I figured it would be an overlook of more scenery.
But I was wrong.
Instead, I saw this:
A perfectly placed bench inviting me to come and chat with the city I fell in love with before I leave.
And that's exactly what I did.
I thanked it for keeping me safe through the pandemic, for giving me opportunities to explore and try new things, for my first job, for my friends, and, most of all, for my partner.
As I stood up from the bench, I took one last look at the city, then turned back down the hill to go home and finish packing, feeling at peace that I didn't leave the city without saying a proper goodbye.