Why are people always changing? I think you and I should stay the same.

My biggest fear of leaving Milwaukee is the knowledge that things won’t be exactly where I left them when I come back. Marquette will build buildings, former students will grow up, friends will move, restaurants will close (if roots closes I will never blame ya’ll for not keeping it open). The list could go on and on, most of the changes are ultimately unforeseeable.

The funny thing is I became an expert in the last five years at missing Pure Michigan. Missing those streets, and people, and foods are familiar. This pain of missing Milwaukee will be new. My roots seem less tangible here, but I know they exist. It became home. And yet Detroit is always home. It’s a barrel of emotions that make no real sense.

Nothing lasts forever. And with good experiences I honestly believe nothing could last long enough. The only thing that makes moving on bearable is that you know other people will be doing the same, that you’re leaving something that will not exist in the exact same way in the future.

So until next time Milwaukee. You’ve been so very good to me. Thanks for being my home. And to the people who truly made it my home, you’re what is so very hard to leave.

I keep asking myself “will I ever just watch tv with so and so all day?” “will I ever get lost in a Milwaukee area grocery store again?” “will I ever find even one brunch place in Michigan that remotely rivals something in MIlwaukee on every corner during a Sunday morning?” “will I ever have an address that ends in “Milwaukee,WI” again?” “HAVE I LOST MY CHANCE TO BE PROPOSED TO ON THE MARQUETTE KISS CAM?!?”

The truth is I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. And perhaps I don’t even want to.

But I know Milwaukee knows how to be something I’ll miss. And that it will live on in my heart forever.

It’s funny, when I was a little girl I NEVER intended to go away to college. When I chose Marquette I assumed I would move back to the D after graduation. Then something changed, I don’t even know what, and I assumed I’d never even be lucky enough to have a real opportunity back home. Now, I have one. A great one, in fact. I am the queen of wanting to live in two places (or three or four) at once. It’s a different way of doing this, but it’s something I am already skilled at.

So bring on good humus, coney island, people who care about hockey, my pool, talking to my mom instead of tweeting her, mile roads, and michigan lefts. And for now, goodbye to Wisconsin Ave, the lake, the bradley center, those left turn lanes I never understood, and some friends who became a second family.

You’re always in my heart Milwaukee. I will tell anyone willing to listen about you. Thanks again.