Where I’m From

posted 2nd December 2010    Written by: Marian    CATEGORY: All Posts, Family, Inspiration, Love/Relationships, Marian, Season 3, Travel, What I've Learned

The day this post goes live I’ll be 30,000 feet in the air en route to New Zealand.

Could someone please tell me how the hell that happened? Because I could have sworn I was just posting about my decision to move to England. Then there was 5 months in London, a 3 week pit-stop at the family home in Connecticut, and then New Zealand. Is it totally lame if I say something like, “Boy! Does time fly!” Seeing as, you know, it really really does.

For now though, I write this at home. I’m sitting in (one of) the local Starbucks, working away. Outside are fall leaves and Greenwich lives shopping for Thanksgiving dinner at the way-too-expensive grocery store. Everyone who walks into this Starbucks is wearing some variation of the jogging pants and pearls uniform of the Greenwich housewife (as I write this there’s a girl my age in this outfit. Perhaps she is a Mrs-in-training?).

This, my friends, is Greenwich, Connecticut.

I’ve always hated it here. Everyone is white, rich and a little pretentious. I hated my high school. Mostly because I was a hermit with an asshat boyfriend so people tended to not like me, but I also thought the people I went to school with cared about the wrong things. Alcohol and an ivy league education being the main two.

Yes, I have always hated this place, but during that last month in London I found myself missing it like nobody’s business.

Now that I’m back, I’m revealing in the colors of autumn and taking long walks at Tod’s Point, the local (and of course, private) beach. I’m playing with my dog and going on dates with my mom. I’m enjoying my childhood room with a huge wicker bed I painted myself the year I moved into my first apartment.

I’m taking full advantage of the huge kitchen, functional washer and dryer, heating, back yard and and full refrigerator.

I also forgot, after having lived in both Manhattan and London during this past year, that people are actually nice to each other here. Sure, it’s the cliche of a small town, and Old Greenwich is by no means the home of Southern Hospitality, but people do occasionally say hi to you on the street. And I do know the guys by name at various shops on our little Main Street (actually called Sound Beach Ave, but whatever).

My point is, I didn’t appreciate the community I grew up in until I really and truly left it. College didn’t count. I hated coming home during summers only to be under my parents thumb again, where none of my real friends were in the area.

This time though, it’s different. I’m here with my favorite person on earth, spending time with my family before I jet off for God knows how long. I get to visit with my closest friends and, because I’m here with a non-American, I can to treat home like a tourist. I take him to Tod’s Point (image above) and see it with new eyes. I get to show him the face my dog makes when you try to take her toy away from her. It’s hilarious. But also sad. Mostly hilarious.

Basically, being home for Thanksgiving is the perfect time because I realize how lucky I am to have had a childhood here. I am grateful for my family and my big ramshackle house and the woods in our back yard.

I’m from a small community outside of New York and of course the week I leave is the week I appreciate it the most.

[photo credit: Vin Crosbie]

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Comments (6)

6 Responses to “Where I’m From”

  • Big L Says:
    December 2nd, 2010 at 9:04 am

    Better late than never, I say! Good for you for accepting and embracing your roots.

    And, well, I know it wasn't the focus of the post, but I can't get past the first sentence. HOLY FRIGGIN' COW, you're GOING! I'm reading this and you're in the middle of a way-too-long flight RIGHT NOW. I am dying to hear from you once you land on the other side of the world. All the best on this new adventure, you're an inspiration for taking such a huge leap!!

  • Kerryn Angell Says:
    December 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 am

    Where are you going in New Zealand? It's a fabulous place that I'm awfully homesick for now since it's all summer and beach and BBQs while I'm stomping through snow and below zero (celsius) temperatures. I'm from Wellington but have travelled a lot around the North and South Islands. If you'd like any advice just drop me a line. :)

  • nikki_klecha Says:
    December 2nd, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    I get it. The older I get, the more I miss a sense of family and home. But I've also learned that you can build your own home, and appreciating where you came from is the first step to loving where you are & where you're going.
    I CAN'T WAIT to hear about NZ!!! If you go to Milford Sound, go to the dive shop & ask for Sarah Greenwood (if you want to scuba, she's the BEST divemaster) & give her a great big hug from me! :)

  • sarah greenwood Says:
    December 2nd, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    Nikki!!! :)

    My dive shop is in Wanaka (and i'm an instructor now!)….. but close enough!!! Do come for a splash if you come south Marian!!!

    I read your post and it made me realise the way i felt when i returned to the UK (from NZ) last year, i had a completely different view of my home town, having been away from it for so long (2 years) but the novelty soon wore off. I do greatly appreciate it was the place that made me the me i am now, but there are so many things i wouldn't have done with my life if i'd stayed there, and the dreams i have now got and am living out, could not have either appeared or be realised had a stayed in the town i do admittedly still call home.

    I do miss my family a great deal and being far away from them has been very tough over the time i have been away (now coming up to 4 years). But these days i can also call one of the most beautiful places on earth home, and i have a new family, which i am building on every day, it changing and emerging. It has been some of the hardest times i have been through but i am keeping as positive as possible and i know that i will have a place i can call my proper home, and somewhere my kids can hate when they grow up, but appreciate 20 years later!!!

  • Lindsey Says:
    December 7th, 2010 at 9:40 am

    I always hated my small town, and when I moved back this summer and reconnected with an old friend he was all "Didn't you threaten to set off bombs before you'd EVER move back there?" I moved home because I found this quote on a Yogi Tea bag: You can't love where you're going, unless you love where you come from. And I wanted to find that love & did. So right on, dude! You officially have Yogi Tea's permission to love where you're going. As if you couldn't immediately fall in love with NZ. HAVE FUN!!!!!

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