This was written in June 2017 — a week before I left the city I called home for 17 years, the city that formed me as an adult.

I made my first solid step out of NY this morning; I told my landlord I was breaking my lease. So today, I walked around the city feeling quite unmoored. What if I hate the cities I move to? What if I never find a good apartment again? What if? What if what if?

I entered the subway and took a seat. In front of me was a young man with a large sketch pad on his lap. He asked, “Can I draw you?”

I looked around, then looked back at him. He was looking at me. I shrugged, “Sure.”

We chatted a bit as he drew. I told him I was from the Philippines but had been in NY for a long time. He said he had been drawing for a long time. The train crossed the Manhattan Bridge. He asked, “Do you want me to draw the view behind you?”

“No,” I said.

I watched as he proceeded to draw the view behind me — the Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown. “I drew it anyway,” he said.

“That makes a nice going away present then,” I said. He didn’t ask me what that meant.

He then completed the lower part of my portrait, hand rapidly sketching out my hair, my shoulders, and stuff around my shoulders. “I gave you wings,” he said.

“Wings??” I asked, chills running through me. (Some of you may know that wings hold a special meaning for me, hence the name of this blog).

“You know, like Victoria Secret model wings,” he said defensively. He paused. Then continued, “But the message really is: Be Fearless.”

I smiled, and threw a side-wink of thanks up to the universe.

If you liked this post, please feel free to like it or share. I won’t be mad.

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