Jen and Jacob sward fighting with parrots.weird. I met Joe Biden and his hands were really soft. (Pretty sure Joan Blaney took this photo) These were some of the best days of my life. to talk to the people who'd been protesting at his Ithaca office for days. The time Kelsey and I broke the news when Congressman Tom Reed showed up at like 10 p.m. October 2016Ī few Upstate guys helping me out of a ditch during a snowstorm in November 2016.īaby Shark and Aidan at the annual Santa rappel in the Commons. Jumping out of a plane for my 29th birthday. Let us never forget that Mayor Svante Myrick told me that he has a "Ravenclaw 4 Lyfe" tattoo across his back. Me and Kelsey when we worked with each other for the very first time on the District Attorney debate. I eventually stopped going, but I plan to pick it up again in San Antonio. There is so much freaking love in this photo.Ĭrossfit nearly killed me. Someone snuck this candid of me at a standoff. I followed around a bunch of Ithacans who arrived at our nation's capitol by the busload. Me on the way to the Women's March in Washinton D.C. And my family will say to me, "After all this time?" And I will say, "Always." Ithacans are like that.Īnd if I never live here again, then when I'm 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I'll be planning another trip back to Ithaca. I know that if I ever decide to come back and work here, this city will welcome me with open arms. I've decided that I am not letting Ithaca go. I can hike the nearby trails in the spring. I can still sit across the table from friends and eat vegan hot dogs in used bookstores. I can cram chowder into my mouth and watch ice sculptures being made. I can go to Wizarding Weekend in the fall. I was feeling terrified that Ithaca, a place I love so much, would feel like that someday.īut somebody reminded me of an obvious and important reality: Ithaca can mean as much to me as I want it to mean. What was my favorite restaurant at the time? What street did I live on? I sometimes struggle to remember what those things were like. I've been thinking back about other times in my life that now feel like a blink - high school, Anchorage, Syracuse. Part of being frozen in place the past few weeks has been me mourning over losing Ithaca. I am smarter, a better writer, more empathetic, less set in my ways.
#ITHACA VOICE JOLENE CRACKED#
It often feels like my head was cracked opened and filled with Ithaca. I am changed forever because of this city. It only worked because Ithacans decided to have us. Its accepted a scruffy group of young people just trying to figure out how we could create a website that somehow resembles a news organization. This city has embraced me, even though I was a total stranger. Since then, not a single day has been a disappointment. I immediately started looking for a way to move here, and I found that way through The Ithaca Voice. I could feel the city's energy just palpitating on an ordinary night. The Commons was still under construction. It was freezing and everything was closed. I came to the city to visit my then-boyfriend's sister after she had her baby.Īfterward, we ate at Viva and walked around the Commons. I loved Ithaca the moment I got here on a cold February day in 2015. Me walking into Ezra's Tunnel during the Summer of 2017.īut most of all, how could anyone ever decide to leave the people here? How do people live a life without knowing what that feels like? I don't know how I ever planned on living my life without spending summers in the gorges. Photo by Jolene Almendarez/The Ithaca VoiceĪnd the gorges. It happens every year now and brings people in from all over the region.Ī woman dressed as a Golden Snitch during Wizarding Weekend 2017.
Wizarding Weekend, what's up with that? In what other city does one viral story about Harry Potter bring together a community to turn an entire city into a weekend of magic. Photo by Jolene Almendarez/ The Ithaca Voice Gordlandia people during this year's Ithaca Festival. Have you seen that parade? I don't even understand that parade, but it's the best thing I have ever seen with gourds, unicycles, magic, the physics bus, and the Volvo ballet. I first came to Ithaca about two weeks before the Ithaca Festival, the quintessential local event. I am eager to be back in San Antonio and can't wait for the opportunity to do some really meaningful work there.īut let's be honest, who the hell would ever voluntarily leave Ithaca? I've wondered every single day if leaving Ithaca is the biggest mistake of my life.ĭon't get me wrong. The truth is, I have spent weeks frozen in place with a lump in my throat. I know there is no excuse for treating the people closest to me so horribly, but please hear me out. If I haven't been a good friend to you lately, I want to apologize.
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