letter to the editor

“My last rental of 10 years got sold for a vacation rental…”

letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

I bow out gracefully. Key West has been my home for 21 years. 21 to 42 years of age, my formidable years in life. Tomorrow I start a new chapter. My last rental of 10 years got sold for a vacation rental and with my dog and the change in the last 5 years years I’m not gonna fight to stay here any longer.

We started losing our weird over 10 years ago and I saw the writing on the wall. I felt like I could squeeze the last little bit of what Key West has to offer. I love her so much and will never forget her but I don’t want to be here for the funeral.

Greed and inhumanity has taken precedence not only here but everywhere. We are just a microcosm of what the United States looks like right now. When I first got here from New York State someone handed me a One Human Family bracelet. I understood it, I lived and loved it. I hope Key West can find its soul again, I believe she will. New York, New Jersey, California, and Texas have moved in with full force. The bubbas are all gone and sold so there is nobody to show them the rules of the land. As we all know it’s different down here and I accepted it and lived by it. Those rules don’t seem to apply now. Our sense of community is a far cry from what it used to be. It’s a shame.

Enough doom and gloom, new chapters are on the horizon and I should’ve figured them out a long time ago but I guess time is relative. I need slower, less crowded, and more fulfilling for me. The clarity didn’t really come until I cleared my head and put my goals on the forefront. I’m ready for change and am excited, but also very sad to leave my island of 21 years. She’s been great to me, and maybe she cares so much that she needs to see me go to reach higher things. I write this with watery eyes and a heavy heart.  The hurricanes, the Fantasy Fest, Christmas, girlfriends, bike rides, the Green Parrot, The Lazy Gecko, Finnegans, The Chart Room, the dogs, and of course the people.

I wish you all well and I will see you again, “this has all been wonderful, and now I’m on my way”…………

So much love,

Ryan Bennett

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