Belmont Avenue: A place where Echo Park kisses Downtown.

Somehow it is always too loud thanks to a church and the school on my corner. Even at night fireworks explode into a goodnight melody of ambient noise that my roommate hates but I have grown to love.

The birds chatter their good morning song while the cats stare at them through half-cracked windows just waiting for a chance that will never come. The same cats scream at me down the all demanding affection even if it is 7 am and way too early.

This shotgun house, a Queen-Ann Victorian built-in 1883 feels like a pirate ship with antique light fixtures, wallpaper, and floors. Too steep stairs leading down to a stained glass door that hates staying closed. We filled the quiet rooms with laughter and smoke, music and determination, soft moments - and hard ones - stupid cooking shows and deep conversations. Exciting news and heartbreak. Too strong coffee and delivery.

I will treasure the memories of running down the hall to share a moment with the roommate who has seen it all. The garden out front is one I have grown to adore, fruit trees galore, and an overly friendly squirrel whose name is always changing. I will miss my quiet spaces, late-night whispers in a birdcage above it all, and good morning songs I pretend to hate.

I have been savoring my walks up a hill that I love to curse, the view of Downtown from my bedroom window reminding me how small I am, the sound of my neighbor playing the cello. All things no matter if they are good or hard eventually come to an end to make room for whatever is lined up next.

So as we walk to the liquor store on the corner one more time, a walk I treasure daily, to get Gatorade and water, I will soak it all in.

The way the sun hits the graffiti, the way my roommate reliably gets the same thing to pair with his flavored nicotine, the feelings of belonging here in the now, the old man always sitting outside. So when it is time to go I can say that I didn’t waste any of it, that I lived it all, I've said goodbye, and now can peacefully move into the next chapter of this wild thing called life.

Cheers to final endings, transition periods, and new beginnings. Until the next goodbye to the chapter I have yet to read.

Model: Sadie Celina @sadiecelina

Photo: Weslee Kate @Wesleekatecreative