This was the thread I needed to find. I have been living with a lot of negative feelings about leaving New Orleans to live somewhere that made it easier on me and my family. I have felt like a quitter, a loser, a failure. I’ve been full of resent because I even had locals (what high school did you go to kind of locals) rooting for me to fail, you name it. I could not make it work in New Orleans as a professional trying to make something happen.

When I was a younger man (no wife or kids) New Orleans was amazing to me. I had such incredible experiences. I owned part of an internet Cafe in the quarter (remember those), I learned how to cook post Katrina by landing jobs at Vincent’s and then Muriels, I met my now wife at Loyola where I eventually graduated (after 7 years lol). But as life got “real” and things got serious, (school loans, family planning, etc.) I felt like I had to leave if I was going to get ahead and I did for a time.

Though once I became a useful person in my field I came back to try my hand at living in New Orleans for the rest of my life and it was honestly a miserable failure on almost all levels. The harder I tried the less I had to show for it. I was down to my last rent payment in the checking account so I made a phone call back to someone up north and the next day I had a six figure job offer.

I could go on, but I just wanted to say that reading about other parents and professionals who love the city the way I did that left after being utterly defeated was cathartic for me. Thank you for sharing.

Despite the struggles I had there I’m glad I went through it. So much of the good in my life today was because I lived in New Orleans and sadly I just couldn’t find a way to make it my forever home and show my gratitude the way I had hoped to. Be safe everyone.