According to Pythagorean numerologists, the number seven means spirituality, due in part to the combination of the physical and the spiritual.
Others may say that number that made Mickey Mantle and Tyrann Mathieu famous means completeness.
In my case, it’s “holy shit, I’ve been in New Orleans that long?”
When I moved to New Orleans under the cover of darkness seven years ago, largely because of a crumbling relationship with certain family members as well as an opportunity to present at a conference known as Rising Tide at Xavier University, the expectation was to stay here four years.
The reasoning behind that was because both of my parents, despite my strained relationship with both of them, were getting up in age. And while I had no worries about my dad and how he was going to be taken care of if something major happened to him health wise, the same could not be said about my estranged mother, due to me being an only child.
That was the Ryne in 2015 talking.
The Ryne now, seven years later, doesn’t have most of that same thought process from seven years ago.
If anything, the Ryne that now lives in New Orleans has not only done an assortment of things, ranging from infamously working as a Lucky Dog vendor just to stay in the city to a disc jockey on WTUL and all points between, but also a more confident and assertive person.
As opposed to my rearing in Memphis, where I never felt like I was part of a family or even shown the concept of how one is supposed to act, I know what one looks like here in New Orleans, something that I couldn’t say for my hometown.
Not to mention the fact that as opposed to Memphis, I’ve never felt a sense of abandonment in New Orleans.
That’s not to say that living here in New Orleans the last seven years has been relatively easy for me. I’d be lying if I said living in New Orleans has been devoid of any problems for me. I’ve had to deal with two hurricanes, poor infrastructure, a pandemic, as well as some unwarranted criticism from certain natives who felt that I didn’t belong here because I didn’t act a certain way.
Those problems, just like any that we deal with in this life, come with the territory.
That being said, thank you New Orleans.