Feels Like Home
This is an archived blog from 2011. Return to the blog home to read other posts from In the Family Way.
Home is a lot of things. It's a place to keep your stuff. It's a place to have your mail delivered. It's a place to feel safe and warm. And it's a place to put down roots and raise a family.
Independence Day always makes me a little nostalgic for my hometown, Philadelphia. No place in the country has as much to celebrate and show off on July 4th as the birthplace of the republic. It is my favorite place on earth. It's home.
Me at The Mantrap, 2001
I first left Philadelphia to go to college. I was happy to get away from home and experience life on my own. It didn't take long to feel homesick. Philadelphia is a place that gets under your skin and doesn't let go. I got back as often as I could - almost every weekend my first year at school, less in subsequent years, and even less as friends moved away and I settled into post-college life. But I always thought I'd live in Philly again someday.
It took 13 years, but I did get back. It was 1999 and my life had been turned upside down the previous year. When circumstances aligned, I took the opportunity to pack up my life and move back home to Philadelphia. I don't think I realized how much I missed home. Within days I had settled into my "bachelorette pad," also called The Mantrap, ready to build the new life I wanted and needed.
Robert Indiana's Love sculpture which overlooks JFK Plaza, Philadelphia
Those years in Philadelphia were very special, filled with friends, family, and a lot of fun. I finally felt like my life was on track, connected, and headed in the right direction: forward. I believe it was fate or the hand of God that was leading me. It's no coincidence that Rob and I met during this time.
Philadelphia will always be the place where we got to know each other and fell in love. The City of Brotherly Love is a central character in our love story and a piece of my heart will always be there.
Rob was on the east coast temporarily, and eventually, his job called him back to San Diego. We were engaged by this time, and we made the decision to try lfe on the Left Coast. The only constant is change, so why not embrace it?
My new home.
Finally, I find that I belong here.
I wish it had been that easy, but leaving behind everything you know and starting over again 3,000 miles away is hard. It's taken years for San Diego to feel like home. But the final pieces fell into place last summer when we finally moved from our condo into a house. It had been a goal for years. We couldn't see ourselves starting a family in a condo community. We wanted something more traditional: a walkable neighborhood, a yard, a dog, and a sense of community. We got all of that and more. It's hard to believe that a move of less than 5 miles could feel like we moved to another world. It was a long time coming.
I walk our puppy early every morning, and more times than not, I am smiling from ear-to-ear as I go. We are blessed to have ended up in a neighborhood I fell in love with when i first moved to San Diego. We finally feel settled. So now we enter the next phase of our lives where we will put down roots and fill this home with love.
This is an archived blog from 2011. Return to the blog home to read other posts from In the Family Way.