The time for me to leave New York draws increasingly near much more than it did any other day -- and it's crazy! With my transfer to my job effective August 10th, it gives me time to explore and check out my new home -- in Tampa, Florida.
I think what's going to be interesting are a few things -- a new environment and the absolute removal from everyone and everything I've ever known. Think on that for a second -- Everyone you've bonded with, everyone you knew, loved, hated and embraced for 28 years were from New York and now it all ends. Gone will be all the skyscrapers, the dreadful MTA, the big presence of NYPD, the growing mass of bar/restaurants, the borough of churches (well, I may not miss that unless I need business in sales) but at least I won't be missing hipsters!
I am more than grateful for every last thing I did accomplish. I finished elementary, junior high, high school and community college. When things take their form, I'll wrap up my Bachelors but it will wait for now. I was in three bands and in each of them, I gained experiences of the learning kind, met different people of different walks of life and played in places I thought I'd never play at the time. I've played in churches, bars, lounges, parks and even prison. I wrote the three poetry books here in NY.
My dating life started and ended in NY. Every sexual experience I ever had, I did it all in NY and not ashamed one damn bit. I met my wife here. I conceived my kid here. I married my wife in NY.
My birth, growth, death and rebirth in spirituality all happened in New York. In the concrete jungle, I developed my faith in Christ, a love for his Bride and absolute disdain for corruption, hollow religion and falsehood. I learned in time, in a harsh way, that to truly fellowship with our Lord, you'd have to tear the walls down and get rid of the business model we've been attached to for centuries -- and that process, at most, will create alienation and even, for a season, create isolation but if you've learned anything from the Bible, quality men and women in God are formed in isolation but be aware of the hurting process. You get betrayed for going against the norm, criticized for criticizing and antagonized for questioning that which is worthy of discrepancy.
The bigger question now is, as Pillar's album says, Where Do We Go From Here? Honestly, my answer is being a husband and father. It's all about the adult life and responsibility. I have a woman and a kid all to me now to look out for, love and care for.
Also, in the meantime, I will finish my album, as it's about halfway done but knowing how I am, I may extend it to more than just 8-10 tracks and even extend it to two or three albums. I am also plotting to get into airbrushing soon as well as making some freehand art canvases.
To everyone that has been around since my lifetime in New York, I thank you all just for being there -- through thick as well as through thin. This chapter of my life closes and another letter opens -- just stay tuned as it begins to unfold.
Love,
Ronnie "Ron Gunz" Gonzalez