Up on the Roof

A few months ago, my wife and I decided to try out a new dinner location we had heard about in downtown Greenville. This place had received glowing reviews from many of our friends for its delicious food, relaxing ambiance, and spectacular views of the city. Believe me when I say, we weren’t disappointed.

After taking the Embassy Suites elevator to the 8th floor, we were ushered to two outdoor lounge chairs overlooking the city skyline. Lights were strung above us while we took in the sights of the Reedy River and surrounding downtown area. We quickly knew this place would be one of our favorite new date night destinations.

While we waited on our order, we reminisced over the memories we had shared in the city below us—the first time we walked our puppy through Falls Park, the many shows we saw at the Peace Center, the evening carriage ride on Main Street at Christmas time. We thought about the many delicious trips made to Smoke on the Water for barbeque, to Luna Rosa for gelato, to Jamaica Mi Irie for beef patties, or to Poppington’s for a bag of Havarti dill popcorn. We talked about all the times we spent downtown with friends and family, coming from all over—anywhere from Maryland to China—sharing with them this beautiful city we call home. And as we sat up on the roof overlooking this city that we love, we realized that soon, this may no longer be home.

Dinner had come and gone, along with the sun, but coffee and dessert allowed us to enjoy the view for just a few moments longer. Our reminiscing inevitably led to us looking forward into residency and where the next adventure would take us. And while we stared out into the many unknowns that face us in the coming months, we couldn’t help but wonder if we would ever find a place we loved as much as Greenville.

Greenville held many firsts for us. Greenville was our first “home away from home.” Greenville is where we first fell in love and later set up our first house together. Greenville was where I first realized that I wanted to be a doctor and the first place to accept me into medical school. There were so many firsts over our eight years here—too many to count.

While the residency process is both exciting and nerve-racking as we search for what may be our “new Greenville,” I can’t help but be a little sad about the Greenville we may be leaving behind. But there, up on the roof, we remembered all those memories were special not only because of the city where they happened, but also because of the people we had spent them with. And no matter where I end up matching, I’ll always get to share new roof tops with my favorite Greenvillian-at-heart.

We don’t know where this path will lead, but looking back, we couldn’t have been happier with where we began. Thank you, Greenville, for all the wonderful memories.

I’d like to thank my wife, Abby, for her contributions and ideas in writing this piece.

 

Formerly from the Baltimore area, I graduated from Bob Jones University with a degree in pre-med. Having interacted through MedEx with the faculty and students, I knew the doctor USCSOMG will graduate was the doctor I wanted to become. If I’m not hitting the books, you can probably find me spending time with my better half or on the basketball court. It is an honor and a privilege to be a member of the class of 2018, and I’m excited to share my passion for emergency medicine and health education with my peers. “To whom much is given, much more shall be required.”