As you know if you follow me on any social media sites, I raised some money via Kickstarter to restart my show, The Jazz Session. As part of that relaunch, I decided to return to New York, the city I love the most and the place in the world where I feel most at home.
I left Auburn, Alabama on August 30 and flew to Detroit for the jazz festival. Then I spent 10 days in State College, PA, where my two young sons live. While I was there, I made a big and difficult decision, namely that I’m going to live in State College for now so I can be more of a dad to my sons.
When our family split up three years ago, I never imagined that eventually I’d live 1,000 miles from my kids and see them just twice in the past year. During the 10 days I spent with them this month, I realized what a stark difference there is in our relationship when I can be there for the little things — helping with homework or walking them to school or cheering them on at a game. As connected as I tried to be when I lived in NYC or Alabama, it just wasn’t the same.
After 38 moves, I finally figured out that New York is where I belong. Where I fit. Where I understand how the world works and how I work in it. But those two beautiful boys are growing up very quickly and I don’t want to miss more of their young lives. So for now, I have to say goodbye to New York as a place to live.
That said, I’ll be in New York frequently to do interviews for The Jazz Session and to attend gigs. The new season of The Jazz Session starts October 1 and I’ve already got some great shows lined up. So while I may not be in NYC every day as I planned, I will be here often. And someday I’ll be living here again.
My friend Mike recently told me about Alfred North Whitehead’s idea that we can’t have novelty without loss. I think Whitehead’s phrase was “life is robbery.” And then my friend Andrea commented that we’re often faced with two decisions for which valid arguments can be made, and sometimes we just need to pick one and let the other good path remain untraveled. In this case, I think the right choice is clear.
Comments