excerpted from my thank you note -
"...What has come so completely into focus for me is the richness of my experience, here in New York. As, one after another, your faces came through the door; I was moved more and more profoundly. Some of you I had not seen for years, some of our friendships have been kept warm and current through email even though we may live mere blocks apart - such is the way of Manhattan.
"But, there you were; men and women I knew before coming to New York, friends whom I've met and made while here, friendly acquaintances who have added life and color to my unique experience of Manhattan, people with whom I have shared some of the exciting and wonderful moments as well as some of the darkest times of the past twelve years...each of you taking the time to brave the elements, the shoppers and the tourists of Times Square to come and say, 'farewell.'
"In many ways, my period in New York has been a tough one; and I have gone through some very dark moments, here. There was a point, some time back, when I believed I could easily leave New York without a backward glance. Your warm presence, yesterday, reminded me of so much, so many people whom I will miss, when I depart. I may no longer be a part of New York; but, what I have undergone in New York will forever be a part of the man I have become. I could not go into this next chapter of my life without having passed through here...
"I saw, so clearly, yesterday, what wealth I have enjoyed in this place. I have laughed much and cried some; experienced the daily exhilaration of opening my door and being at The Center of the World, experienced the relief of surviving at the end of each day...I have met men and women who are creative, loving, intelligent, adventurous, caring and thoughtful and who find ways to express these qualities even as each engages in the daily battle...and, in the home stretch, I have met a man who has taken my heart.
"It is far more difficult to leave New York than I thought it would be, and it hurts to go; I am compelled to say that I am grateful that this is so."
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