It is now all but certain that I will be moving to the Berkshires in Massachusetts on May 1. While it will be the first time in my life that I’ve lived anywhere but New York State, there are a few things that need to be said at the outset.

First: I will always be a New Yorker. Second: I will not end my involvement with the world of brain injury in New York. In fact, my new home is on or about 25 miles closer to Albany than where I live now. Third: Now and forever I will remain a NY Yankees, Giants, Rangers and Knicks fan. Having gotten my love for and loyalty to New York memorialized, let me say that I am genuinely happy and excited about the move. One of the first place’s I will visit once I settle in will be Edith Wharton’s home called The Mountain. I’ve read number of her books and in my view her work is one of the greatest things about American literature, any literature for that matter.

I have, of course, mapped out the area’s public library system and am overjoyed about that. More than anything though, I am looking forward to settling into a new home that I do not have  to leave. I want to pare down my focus in life to two primary areas: writing and advocacy. If I am lucky, travel would be nice.

I will deeply miss some new friends I’ve made where I’m living now, people I genuinely love and care about. But, as my closing in on 40 years of friendship with Michael Sulsona proves, you don’t have to live in the same locale to remain active friends. Michael lives in Staten Island.

And now, the process of moving. Here is exactly how I feel about moving. American playwright Lillian Hellman once said, “I hate writing, I love having written.” For me, I hate moving, I love having moved.