My friend Natalie left Manchester today, and whilst it's not like I won't see her again, it was still one of those "goodbye" moments. It's kind of got me thinking about a lot of things, not least all the friends I've said goodbye to as they've left Manchester for one reason or another.
I've lived here for nearly 7 years now... in fact, the house I'm in now is very nearly the place I've spent longest in my life. As an 18 year-old applying to Uni, I guess I didn't really think about much other than A-level grades and where I'd be going out at night. And without thinking about it, this place has gradually become more than just somewhere I live, but somewhere I might consider home. Hell, I've started growing vegetables in my yard, and if that's not a sign of settling in I don't know what is!
But something Natalie said has sat with me this afternoon. Home is not a place, a house or your surroundings. It's where people you care about are.
Over the past few years I've said goodbye to a fair few people who made Manchester my home. I've waved goodbye to people like Steve, who I think about a lot (and luckily get to stay with in Seville every now and again) and Andrew, who is now a barrister.
In my final year of medical school, I made a fair few new friends, a lot forged in that time in Blackburn. Andy, Nick and Kath now work and live in Edinburgh, Devon & Leeds, whilst Rach lives in Liverpool. Lauren is back in Canada (soon to be Detroit) and Kat has travelled the globe.
I keep in touch with some of these better than others. And even with e-mail, Facebook and international roaming, there are plenty others whom I neglect.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that my "home" is pretty spread out. I can sit here, alone in my house now, but think of all those times where I've been elsewhere that felt like home: falling over in the Alameda de Hercules, sleeping under a desk in Sefton Park, singing Abba at 3am somewhere between Montreal and Ottowa, getting takeaway in Leeds... the list is long.
I don't know where I'll end up. Right now, it ranges from right here, to Sarajevo, Ljubljana or Malaga and right back to Southampton, Portsmouth and London. You know what? I wouldn't even rule out Blackburn!
So don't let me be a stranger... I might come knocking one day!
