People are wonderful.

It's funny how this program forced so many of us to bond so quickly, yet many of us are not quick to exclude new people into fun adventures.
Last night Jess and I hung out with a girl we had only once sat across a dinner table from before. We went from merely making small chat to laughing and talking into the night at a great Mexican restaurant. And what bonded us? Searching for a nice place to go out to that fit our budget, was close enough and didn't have sketchy old people. It was great.
Then today we threw our very own Superbowl party, inviting new and old friends from our building. Luckily, word spread beyond the 6 original people we knew were coming to a whopping 15 people! Everyone knows how big of a part (American) football plays in the lives of the people in this country, so we really lucked out in finding a great way to bring people together.

I am just so thankful for this opportunity I've been blessed with. I've really needed something to hold onto and to keep me going after coming back from abroad. Ever since I left Wales I have felt like a big chunk of who I am has been missing; I haven't felt whole. I miss my incredible friends who are the most amazing people I have ever met. Leaving them, leaving the country, made me feel stuck in an odd place. I didn't know where I belonged in the world anymore. I hadn't felt right.

Until now. Coming to Chicago, making these new great friends, finally getting to work and living in a new place has really helped in starting to re-shape and re-fill my empty, confused self.

But don't get me wrong. No one and nothing can ever replace anyone or anything in this world. Everyone and everything has his/her/its own special place in my heart and plays his/her/its own special role in my life in making me who I am and how I want to live my life. But Chicago, its people, my friends, the trains, my job, the atmosphere, etc. have helped me to find hope and a newfound optimism in the world. I've begun to find my place in the world again and figure out where I fit in the world.

It doesn't matter where you are. Your home, your life, your love is where your heart is. And now I know that my heart doesn't just have to be in Iowa or Chicago or Wales or England or wherever; my heart is in all of those pieces. All of those places, all of the people from those places that are in my life make up a piece of my heart. My heart is citywide...statewide...national...international.

And it's always growing.



You...yes you...the one who is reading this.

No matter who you are...if you are reading this it means that you are a part of my life, and I want you to know that you will always be in my heart.

Thank you for everything.

Thanks for wanting to be in my world.

You are wonderful.

xx

“The world is truly round and seems to start and end with those we love.” –Nelson Mandela