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It’s safe to say I never wanted to move to this side of the state. “Fresh off the boat in 2013” with almost 3 years of living in a small suburban community south of Detroit, I (alongside my husband) had to make a decision. Which was not a hard decision to make (for him anyway) to move out to Grand Rapids. For him it was necessary. For me compulsory.

In a day and a half, we moved all our belongings from Ohio and southern Michigan to West Michigan. We didn’t have much. Our “things” were mostly clothes, books, and personal stuff. All the big things that one needs in a home, like bed and dressers, chairs and table, lamps and desk….etc. were given to us by family. All of it. We didn’t have much, right? Though I always felt we had more than we needed.

My most important possessions were my books, my camera, and some trinkets. I didn’t own a phone or a car. I wish I could have “packed” the family dogs, Kayla and Riley, but  I knew that was not possible. That alone would have made my move a lot easier.

August 26th marks the beginning of my life in Grand Rapids and my first reaction was to cry. I did not know anyone here.  I had no friends or family around. I had Ryan but after only 2 days he started PA school in full force and for the next 2.5 years I saw very little of him. A medical school type program on (very) fast-forward.

I saw very little of the city we moved in in the first months. I got to know the surrounding neighborhood a bit through my long walks. The most beautiful autumn I can remember started in October 2016 and it transitioned to a late winter that made itself known in January of the following year. So much color and vegetation. The beautiful rusty colors of a West Michigan fall turned into a frostbitten winter. The little lake-like body of water we have behind our building stayed frozen for almost 5 months. I was worried about the fish and turtles living under that cold blanket of thick ice and snow. So many things to be considerate of when you have so much time on your hands.

The first months have been tough because finding work in a place I knew so little about proved more difficult than I thought. I continued to work from home and I loved it for a while, but I began to ache and my anxiety worsened. I was trapped. Or at least that’s how I felt. Then I started looking for a job, any kind of job, just to be able to leave the house. In the winter of 2016, I found something that helped with a few of my then imagined issues. The work was meant to keep me focused on other things for a while, give some satisfaction and fill my alone time.

This was the beginning of my explorations outside my comfort zone. Month after month I got to discover this wonderful place. And it took my breath away. My Grand Rapids in a few words: all the green you can possibly imagine, all the bodies of water, trails, the softest, cleanest, brightest sand beaches I have ever seen…all just 30-40 minutes away from where I live. Wilderness a few miles away from civilization. 12 minutes north I have the downtown with its beautiful cozy nooks, museums, galleries, independent book stores, breweries, wine tasting spots, over 100 music venues that provide live music and entertainment, theater and symphony halls, bridges and a river flowing right in the middle of it all…

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Photo credit: Oana Stiff. Taken in September 2017

I love the diversity. The cultural diversity that it. The social diversity is still (in 2019) a bit of a “sensitive” subject. I am not sure I know how to phrase this without offending anyone. This area, just like the majority of America (in my opinion, you don’t need to agree with me) is still vastly intolerant, a bit too Christian (and I don’t mean that as a good thing) and more Republican than I care for. I take the good with the less good and make it a perfect place.

I made friends here, I experienced working in a community that teaches you to humble yourself and stand up for what you believe in, I worked with incredible human beings, I let go of fears and I accomplished meaningless things that proved to be the most meaningful. I kept myself together.

If given the chance to do it all over again I would probably change a few things, but I will keep the experiences that consolidated my faith and the person I am today, 3 years later. I love my new home. I truly love this place. I am in a much better place now than I was almost three years ago. I grew more confident, I let go of people and places that were dragging me down and I moved forward with the “dream team”. A group of individuals, family, and friends that come up, spend the night, go out exploring the countryside and the vineyards, have pizza nights, and movie nights, holidays and everything in between.

This place is a piece of heaven to me. I will forever associate it with the smell of fresh water, (if it sounds like a cliche, oh well, not for me, since I never had the pleasure of being a resident of the Great Lakes state before) the sound of seagulls (which, back at home, in Romania, I always associated with the seaside), the crazy humidity in the air and the immensity of the countryside just 5 minutes south.

I am grateful and I am humbled. I love you, Grand Rapids!

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Grand Rapids, Michigan. September 2017