Just about the time neighborhood friends grew accustomed to our plans to leave New York, one of our favorite families down the street broke everyone’s hearts and announced their departure first, paving the road and giving us a sneak peek into the next few months.  Famous as the neighborhood’s preeminent party hosts, we’ve loved gathering round their piano to sing show tunes, Christmas carols and Irish ballads till all hours of the night. A couple years ago they hosted our BALLAD OF RUSTY AND ROY fundraiser, magically transforming their beautiful apartment into a Texas trailer park to set the mood for our story.  My improvisation class wouldn’t have been the same without Dave’s hilarity, and my beloved book club wouldn’t exist without Sue.  (I won’t even start with how great those two kids are.)  And on New Years Day 2012 they and another favorite family gave us a VERY hard time for wanting to leave NYC and made a napkin contract to descend upon our new abode one year after the move for a “multi-day carnival-esque debauche.”

This place would be a lot easier to leave if all our friends left too.  I just wish we’d end up in the same new town.