I have quite literally shed a few tears on several occasions in route to LaGuardia after a great visit to NYC (In other words, I’ve cried on the M60. Shameful, I know.)

Yesterday was a new experience for me. It was the first time I’ve ever gotten a major case of the blues leaving Los Angeles.

Thankfully my 5 pm departure, after a full week in the sunshine state, allowed for a sweetly savored half-day exit. I spent time with a dear friend in Central LA in the morning, then enjoyed a beach run from the home of another friend in Playa del Ray in the afternoon. As I said goodbye to the beach and packed for LAX, I found myself struggling.

Not just because I was going to miss 70 degree days and perpetual sushine – although I most definitely will as I head north to much cooler temps in Oregon.  The root of my blues was in how much I knew I’d miss my CA friends.

The older I get, I find that parting with close friends is more bittersweet. With all of our insanely busy lives, you never can be sure – no matter how true both of your intentions are – when you will see each other again.

It’s fascinating how our relationships with friends and what we value in them changes during our different ages and stages. For me, the 20s were about amassing friends – collecting loads of friends from different areas of life: college friends, work friends, party friends. The 30s were about honestly assesing those friendships and honing in on the healthy, true relationships. Now, here I am looking into the 40s and declaring it to be the age of cherishing friendships – the age of holding on tightly.

So I leave LA with a full heart, knowing I will find ways to nurture the important relationships, even from a distance, and that makes me happy.

And now I set my sights to Oregon and to catching up with much-missed, too-long-since-eyeballed good friends there. Maybe I will take a little LA glow and sunshine with me.

I’m curious…do you have a place that makes you misty to leave?  If so, I’d love to hear about it.