Another Friday Morning in Queens

I had to stand on the subway today, my last day at the office. A little farewell gift from the MTA. And yet, as I stood there staring out through the train's safety glass window, there it was spilled out in front of me. Queens, my Queens, bathed in the morning sun.

This neighborhood has changed so much just in the five or so years I've been in it. Turn-of- and mid-century buildings demolished, hotels and condos erected in their place. Views of the city's famous skyscrapers blocked a little more each day. Subway lines re-routed, re-named. And through it all this hundred year old El rumbles up its center, stalwart , even if it does get shiny new cars every few decades.

I have loved this place, and I have hated it. The time has come for me to leave and a new phase of my life is waiting to begin, some 1300 miles away. But this place was here for me when I needed a home, and for that I will be forever grateful.