New York

New York City in enchanting. Standing outside on Ocean Ave, waiting for my brother to go turn the moving van around to park across from his building, I sat on a bench. I closed my eyes and I listened. You could hear the dull roar from the traffic, an impatient driver honking at the guy who didn't have a reaction time of a drag racer on the green light. In the distance you hear the sirens of a fire truck. The hustle and bustle of a city of millions, yet there I sat at on a bench, and the scene was uniquely serene.

When my brother, Keith, asked me to ride with him and help him move to Brooklyn, I jumped at the opportunity. Helping my brother and seeing a city that has inspired so many songs, books, and even lives is something you just can't pass up. Once passed through the Holland Tunnel and then over the Brooklyn Bridge, you feel the city breath life into you. The road that takes so much out of you, gives you so much back once you get into it. The bumper to bumper traffic is just a fact of life. No sense getting upset about being in it. Just hold your ground and you will be fine.

Standing at a subway platform waiting for the Q train, I paused. I was really here. What I was seeing was real. I was excited to be there at that moment, but what I was even more excited for was my brother's new adventure. Five years ago he left for Chicago to follow a dream of performing improv. Having graduated iO and Second City, he decided to move on to film school which was the original plan out of high school. The stars aligned and there he was, standing next to me on the subway platform.

I was glad to help. I am proud of him. Parts of me wish I could do the same, parts of me are over joyed to have the simple life that I have with my beautiful wife and kids in a place that doesn't include sitting in traffic for 30 minutes to go 7 miles.  Guess we will just have to visit him soon.