A House is Not a Home

I performed at Chocolat in Harlem last night with Ray Newton's band Deziire.  I sang Amy Winehouse's Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and Ella Fitzgerald's rendition of A House is Not a Home.  I realized after my performance last night that no truer words have been spoken.  I have seen all the big cities -- Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Las Vegas, and now New York.  Anyone can live anywhere, and anyone can love anybody, but true love is where you are home.  I have never felt more at home on a stage, surrounding artists, musicians, and those who understand music and life.  Sunday night, I fell deeper in love with my craft.  I also fell deeper in love with the man who stole my heart just over a year ago.  New York has been challenging for me, but the light at the tunnel is that I have met and bonded with some of the most incredibly gifted people I've ever known, here, in New York city.  When people ask me if I would consider moving to another city, my response is simple, "I can't imagine myself anywhere else.  This is home now."  And as long as that remains true, I will continue growing, loving, and cherishing this city and the glorious people I've had the pleasure of knowing here.  It isn't an option to leave New York because my heart is here, and I've made this my home.  If I could live somewhere else and make it home, I would go.  If I could love someone else and stay true to myself, I would make them mine.  But my options are clear, and my path is clearer, and no one could replace my home.  Thank you to everyone who has molded New York to represent something good and real, exposing me to the most rewarding reality I've ever known.  "A chair is not a house, and a house is not a home when there's no one there to hold you tight, and no one there you can kiss goodnight...when I climb the stairs, and turn the key, oh please be there, still in love with me."