Of Great Significance

Three years ago this May, three things happened:
-I lost one of my closest friends
-I started hanging out with a group of people who would soon become like family to me
-The National released an album called Boxer

How are these events linked? May of 2007 was a terrible time for me. I was living alone for the first time in an apartment off of 15th and Portland in Minneapolis. Ella, Grendel and I had dealt with attempted break-ins, drug deals in the hallway and a well intentioned but not so bright landlord who generally thought things would fix themselves and didn't see the need for any additional security. On May 13, I got the news that Jenny, her fiancee Kyle, two skydiving instructors and a pilot had been killed in a plane crash in Montana the previous day. Most of the rest of the month is a blur. I drank a lot. By myself. I listened to Boxer once and hated it.

Then along came June. I was talking to my friend Ryan about the fact that dealing with this loss was especially hard in an apartment where I didn't feel safe (and oh by the way, where I'd just seen the first of a growing army of cockroaches the night before). He mentioned that he and Erin (his then girlfriend, now wife) were the caretakers for the building they lived in and an apartment had just opened up below theirs. I went to see it, signed the lease a couple of days later and by July 1 had packed up the critters and moved into the place where I now live. My first day there, I went up to visit the neighbors and hung out while Boxer played in the background.

This move could not have been a better decision. Over the next few months, I became part of this community that's been my home now for three years. I bought my own copy of Boxer. Lyrics and sound of self-deprecation and sadness mixed with just enough hope to keep moving along made it the perfect soundtrack for that summer. At any given time, at least one of us was listening to it and soon the sound linked itself to memories the way only music can do. Now that album is there whenever I need a reminder of a time in my life when, just as things were at their worst, a new family and place came along and a path was formed that generally shaped everything about who I am today. This is by no means a singular event (because I'm a lucky girl) but it is one of the most significant.

Now, its May 2010. The National are releasing another album and my community is breaking apart. Almost everyone in this building that I love is moving away this spring and summer to pursue opportunities in other countries and states. I may leave too. May is proving itself to be challenging once again. However, I have to remember that although we're going in different directions, I still have the great love of and for not only the people here but all the amazing people in my life. I have a reminder of how great a place this has been to learn in and grow. And what this means to me really is that this year, I'll be starting a new chapter with a new soundtrack playing in the background.