Adiós a San Francisco

To say that I love this city would be a monumental understatement.

I grew up in the Bay Area but moved to San Francisco for my first job as a Registered Nurse in 2007. It was the first time I had ever lived in an apartment by myself (I paid $1100 for a studio in the tender nob and yes that was a deal!). I reveled in the freedom of exploring the city by bus, foot and MUNI.

I danced in the street with purple hair at the SF love fest while spandex wearing men gyrated on top of blinking stop light’s, I strolled the street of Folsom celebrating the leather clad quirkiness of Folsom street fair, I ran next to naked men and women at bay to breakers (for the record I personally was fully clothed), I celebrated Halloween in the streets of the Castro for the infamous yearly Halloween party, I sang horrible karaoke at the Lookout, and I nearly cried from pure joy when I heard Elton John live at Outside Lands concert (then later looked on in horror, when Kanye had a complete meltdown on that very same stage). I went to grad school here, met my spouse here, got married in the rotunda of SF city hall, had my son at the Kaiser on Geary street and purchased my first home here. San Francisco has been the backdrop of my life for 15 years and while she is not perfect (gentrification, massive wealth inequity, homelessness) I’ve loved her all the same- kind of like the way you love that one crazy and slightly embarrassing aunt. I can call out her faults but how dare you do the same! In the words of the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco “You don’t get to hate San Francisco. You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.”

San Francisco will always be home, but as my time here comes to a close I wanted to relive some of my favorite things about this city.

One week until moving day!