Charlottesville-- A (Write) of Passage

 By Kristi Cruise

I’ve just returned from three beautiful days in Charlottesville, and I can’t quite explain why, but it feels like something important shifted in me.

It wasn’t just the stunning fall weather or the familiar Downtown Mall. It was the people. Friends I hadn’t seen in 5+ years — faces that felt like home the moment I was with them. We picked up as if no time had passed. I felt so loved, so seen, and so deeply grateful.


Being back in the place where I spent four formative years as a news anchor reminded me of something: true friendships don’t disappear. They wait. They hold. And they welcome us back in.

This trip was more than a reunion. It felt like a rite of passage. I stepped into the past for a moment, carried my present self with me, and left with a new sense of the future. The younger me who once walked those roads would hardly believe the risks I’ve taken, the obstacles I’ve overcome, and the dreams I’ve followed. And yet, surrounded by old friends (and familiar Blue Ridge mountains), I also felt the same at my core — still laughing, still loving, still finding meaning in small moments.

Sometimes a trip is just a trip. And sometimes it’s a threshold — a reminder of how far you’ve come, and how deeply you’re loved along the way. Charlottesville was both. 

Sometimes a trip is just a trip. And sometimes it’s a threshold — a reminder of how far you’ve come, and how deeply you’re loved along the way. Charlottesville was both.

My advice to you: go back to your old stomping grounds. Discover what's new and what remains unchanged. Reconnect with the people who shaped you. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been — it will fill your soul in indescribable, overflowing ways.

I’m back, refreshed and ready. My soul is ready to connect the past to the future and turn the page anew.

And just for fun — here’s a little blast from my old news days, an anchor reel clip.  

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