10 Years

Me, my friend Karen, and Karen's mom on my last day in DC. In the Press Room of the White House.

I kind of thought I would just skip today. Not skip it, skip it, but just not go there and think about the decision I made a decade ago that altered my life forever. But then I started to think about things I wish I'd said at various points in my life and that made me start to think about Washington. Yes, it's been kind of a melancholy week around here.

Ten years ago today, I left Washington, DC to return to Chicago.

I left my amazing, smart, funny, loyal, crazy friends and moved back to the Midwest. I remember crying all the way out of my cul-de-sac in Alexandria, VA, onto the Beltway, and all the way up I-70 through Maryland into Pennsylvania. At least the tears kept me awake (I had mono).

The bad news is that I haven't been back since the day I left. The good news is that thanks to Facebook, my friends and I stay in pretty close contact. So even though I'm not there for so many milestones, I still get to be part of it all from afar.

To my wonderful lifetime DC friends, I love and miss each of you. I'm so grateful you're all still in my life a decade later.

Kelly and me hanging out with our good friend Jimmy Smits at a 1997 Inaugural Ball.

I must get more of my DC pics scanned. I will make that my mission this year.