I left for college in Boston when I was 17, and I pretty much never lived at home again. For the past 20 years I have lived in Florida and Texas- perhaps the two most non-New England states in the Nation. Though work dictates the need to live so far from my hometown, I always love coming home. There truly is no place like Connecticut with the rolling green hills and historic charm.
My parents still live in the same 1759 colonial in which they raised me and my brother. I can look out my bedroom window and see the house where my husband grew up across the street. Along my back porch the gardens are full of hummingbirds, hydrendgea and busy bees who dart along the narrow path between my house and the schoolhouse next door.
Time stands still here. It is like stepping into a time machine and zipping back to my childhood. Every creaking floorboard and wrought iron latch bring back memories of cool summer nights. Evening walks are filled with raccoons in stone-walled stream beds and deer-chewed hostas. And still marked by it's stone archway entrance, the meadow where we all played as kids is still preserved and pristine.
Most of my Connor family still lives here and summer nights on Gram's back porch are tradition. Under the rising moon we fill our bowls to the brim with Friendly's ice cream and poke fun at the past. I love that this stunning woman is my grandmother. At a very young 90, she still lives in her home (the same one in which my father was raised), still dances on Sunday nights, and her voice sweetens St. Patrick's Cathedral from the choir loft. She is such an inspiration to me and I imagine I will be just like her in another 50 years.
Though some parts of my hometown still struggle with the real world issues of economy, self-identity and industry, my little neighborhood remains a safe haven where the houses are meticulously kept, the historical importance proudly displayed, and all the flowers seem to bloom a little bigger!
LOVE & HOMETOWNS!
Best post to date! so inspiring, nostalgic and full of everything that makes your heart sing. Trips home make you feel just a little more at peace with your world, a place where you truly belong <3
Posted by: Account Deleted | 08/01/2012 at 08:04 AM
Jacquie, Who says we can't go home again? What a lovely post. I feel the nostalgia in your words, and a kind of longing...
Glad you got to go home and spend some time in Beautiful Connecticut!
Now back to Surfing Dude!
Hugs, Robin
Posted by: Robin Ridener | 08/01/2012 at 07:37 AM