A little over 8 years ago I got a phone call from Alec, “I got into Drexel. We have to move to Philadelphia”. I was extremely hesitant to leave behind the only life I’d ever known. Friends and family, a network of people who loved and supported me no matter what. And the mountains, we were going to be leaving some of the most beautiful places in the country for a city, a city whose reputation preceded it.
Hesitant or not, we left Denver for Philly in January of 2019 so Alec could go to PA school. And the adjustment was harder than I could have ever imagined. We left all of our people and traded that for knowing hardly anyone. We left scenic mountain views and hiking and camping and familiarity- it was really freaking hard. Philly was dirty, people were direct and loud. Even outside the city there were sirens and revving engines and trains and buses that caused noise at all hours. I was lonely and devastated, resentful that Alec made us come here. It felt unbearable. It eventually got to the
point that I needed to start therapy again.
Very slowly (and with help from my therapist), I began to make friends at work- Meg, Kasey, Eric, Lauren, Chef Tom to name a few. I attended events and happy hours, indulged in the city’s history
and culture. I really put myself out there trying to embrace a city that wasn’t my own. But then the strangest thing happened: I started to fall for Philly. The directness was just honesty, the sounds
comforting to know that there was always someone close by. The charm was completely unmatched, a city so old it kept the best secrets. And the people! My god, the love they had for their city that somehow ended up extending to us… a city so gruff and unassuming ended up making us feel like we belonged. I fell in love.
Then the pandemic happened. Happy hours, in office work and adventures in the city came to a halt. We put beers in yeti mugs and walked the dog in the Wissahickon. Alec got his PA didactic education from the back bedroom of our apartment in Manayunk. The pandemic changed a lot for us, slowed us down and somehow we decided that a global pandemic was the perfect time to have
a baby. To be fair we didn’t think we would still be dealing with COVID by the time our baby was born but, hindsight. Anyway, we became pregnant with Nora in October of 2020 and when our lease
was up in 2021, we decided we loved Philly enough to lay down roots and buy a house. And so we did, on Dexter Street.
Without divulging too much, buying a flipped house in a global pandemic wasn’t the best idea, but again, hindsight. Eventually we started making it our own just in time to welcome Nora into the world. Things were lonely postpartum during Covid and Alec ended up taking a job with an hour long commute. I quit my job in the summer of 2022 to spend more time with Nora and ended up finding a neighborhood gem, Rutabaga. At the toy library with weekly story time, myself and Nora made friends just when we needed it the most. Enter Melissa and Lily, showing us all the
kid friendly Philly sites, music classes and eventually, our beloved preschool, PCCH. We met new neighborhood friends and hit the park together after Ms. Gina’s music class at Pilgrim Church. Life
suddenly felt so rich and so full, more than I could have ever believed possible in a city that wasn’t Denver.
Simultaneously, we met our neighbors on the street. Amy and Josh had a baby 6 months after we did, Ruthann and Vince not long after that. Morgan and Collin were dog parents at the time but
having them as neighborhood friends too brought such a liveliness to our block. Being able to talk parenthood, neighborhood happenings and life in general only increased the richness we felt. A few
months before Margot (and Morgan’s daughter Darcy) were born we formed a little Dexter Street Mom’s Club. Those couple years of having each other in the neighborhood allowed us to form a
bond for life. What a privilege it was to make friends with our neighbors, knowing that with all of life’s ups and downs, we had a community literally right outside our front door.
And so the years in Philly passed, apple picking in the fall, family vacations in the spring, play dates, museums, the aquarium, the Pretzel Park costume parade, birthdays, holidays, C&C (IYKYK), strolls down Main Street, Sundays with the Birds and all of the things that made our life in Philly so special.
But, sometimes in life love just isn’t enough. Philly was far from the west coast and with the exception of my cousin, not anywhere close to the majority of our loved ones. So we made the decision to sell our house beloved Dexter Street house and move back to Colorado.
To say I was devastated does not do justice to the way I felt. It had been so hard to leave Denver and embrace somewhere new in the first place! Here I was fully in love with my life in Philly, a
community, my charming house on a one way street and now we made the decision to leave?
In the spring of 2026, we sold Dexter Street, bought a house in the south suburbs of Denver and made the move back across the country. Again, I won’t divulge too much but it was one of the most
challenging times we’ve ever had to deal with-there was literally an exploding toilet storyline, approximately 1 hour before we signed over the papers to the new owners.
Leaving Philly has filled me with so many conflicting emotions. How happy I am to be back in Colorado close to loved ones and the mountains. How much grief I have over the people we left in
Philly. I miss our neighborhood, the festivals, the city parks, the charm, the culture, the food, my crooked little row home with the yellow front door. I miss who I became there, which may be the
hardest thing of all.
It feels silly to say, but I have spent some time grieving our lives in Philadelphia. Philly felt like being in love with someone I knew wasn’t “the one” and that it would eventually come to an end. But, Philly was and (will always be) one-of-a-kind, in your face and truly one of the best experiences of my life. Even though my heart is broken, I’ll forever love the city and the people who changed my life for the better.
Go Birds (that means I love you)
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