Nostalgia

This weekend was spent driving through Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown quite a bit, mainly because we visited my sister at the hospital there a few times, while doing so, it got me feeling rather nostalgic for a time past. When my family moved here from Nigeria in the late 80's, we lived in Tarrytown and even though at the time it felt so foreign to me, now looking back, its the closest thing to "home" for me in the United States. As children, my siblings and I complained of boredom constantly, it almost felt like life was happening everywhere else besides there so I was taken aback when we drove through and it looked liked a new place to me. Like any other place, it has had some turnover and improvements but somehow they have preserved the essence of the place, the old and the new sit nicely together.

Although I longed for that time, it was different, I don't miss being a kid there but now with my family, I understand why families yearn to raise their families there. I marveled at the beautiful homes within Philipse Manor, the historic architecture, it all was quite impressive. It has culture and a rich fabric that my current town is devoid of and I miss that. I miss living in a place with rich history, with a story behind it that doesn't involve shelf stable cheese. Is that wrong? We moved here initially for one reason and that was to make my commute shorter, I no longer commute further North so its a bit tough to now hold on to a place that has no purpose anymore especially after living here for almost 5 years (..which is crazy!). and still feel no connection to it. Certainly I would miss the fact that I have had two babies brought home here but its been really tough to make friends and really become part of a community here, its just not that type of place I suppose. Anyway, I've really been thinking about long term plans and feel strongly about making some moves; I was raised all over the world and was exposed to different cultures early on (which had its pros and cons) and I would like my daughters to have a similar experience in life, I can't imagine them only living in Monroe for half their lives (pre-college). I would like them to develop a love of other cultures, languages and people and feel the best way to do so is to travel and live within them or at least live in a more culturally diverse* and rich community. 

(*I dont like to use the word "diverse" because I've found in the this country it often refers solely to "black, asian and spanish..." which is not what I mean.)