I think you might be my soulmate.
We only met three years ago, yet somehow it feels like I’ve known you forever.
There’s something about you — something that made it feel like our meeting was inevitable, as if we were always meant to cross paths.
From the very beginning, you didn’t demand anything of me — just welcomed me, gently, into your pace.
You’ve witnessed both the best and worst of me, yet you never turned away.
Where others might have recoiled, you helped me embrace parts of myself I once feared.
You comforted me when I felt lost.
You gave me space to cry, to rest, to begin again.
Just as you stood by me through every version of who I became, I’ve loved you through all your seasons.
But oh, how I looked forward to your warmer days — when the sun would spill over the Toon, and your parks came alive with colour and sound.
I’d lie on the grass as the warmth soaked into my skin, watching the clouds drift by, leaves rustling softly in the breeze.
Around me, the bursts of laughter and conversation carried with the breeze, the sounds of joy that filled the air as humans simply existed.
In those moments, when everything else felt heavy, you made life feel light again — weightless, almost, as if time itself paused just for us.
I lost myself somewhere along the way, but you helped me find my way back and in the process, you helped me rediscover my spark.
You pushed me to test my limits, to believe in my own potential.
You made me want to grow, not for anyone else, but for myself.
You made me feel like I could take on the world… or at the very least, survive it.
Out of all the things we’ve done together, my favourite moments are the quiet ones — just you and me, wandering through your streets or sitting in silence beneath your skies.
With you, I learned how to be alone without feeling lonely, how to sit in silence and still feel full.
Thank you for everything —
for libraries filled with books I longed to read,
for boba stores that became sanctuaries,
for the people I met, the opportunities you offer, and the experiences that shaped me.
I owe you so much.
You were more than just a backdrop to my university years —
you were the one who held me through it all.
And though I’ll leave you soon,
You’ll always be a part of who I am now.
Newcastle, I will carry a piece of you in my heart, always.