My City, My Community

Some of my fondest memories as a child are the ones I spent with my family and our family friends in Atlanta. We took camping trips together, chased lightening bugs at night, and would use any excuse to have a barbecue. We spent so much time with them that we became somewhat of a family.

When my dad had his job transferred to Tampa I was devastated. At ten years old I felt as if my world was shattered. Leaving my friends, our house, and my school was, at the time, quite possibly the worst thing my parents could have ever done to me.

I was scared. Terrified. I was fearful that I would never find new friends or have the feeling of a community as I did in Atlanta. In a way I was right. Tampa was very different. I made friends and our family made friends, but nothing compared to the relationships that we shared with our friends in Atlanta.

When MacKay found a job in New York City the feelings that I had 16 years ago soon rushed back. Would I find new friends, would I still have a sense of community living in this big city? In my first post ever on this blog I told you that I have found my sense of community. No matter how big this city is, I have never felt closer to the people that live around me.

I love being able to live in a building filled with wonderful people asking me how my day is, how Harlan is doing, if I need anything. People that truly care about me and my family. I was walking the dogs the other day when an older woman from my building stops me to tell me she saw Harlan and I in the New York Daily News. Embarrassed and flattered, I had a conversation with her about the entire incident. At the end of the conversation she asked if I bought a copy because she saved hers for us if we needed it.

It doesn’t seem like much, but this woman saving her newspaper {several days after it came out} was one of the nicest things a neighbor has ever done. She doesn’t know me or my family and only knows us from short elevator rides together, but went out of her way to do something generous for us.

The friends that I have made here are nothing short of unbelievable. They are there when I need to talk, will take care of Harlan in last minute situations, and accept me for who I am (quirks and all.) I am finally completely comfortable and have fallen in love with everything this city has to offer, including the people.

Whether it is the woman saving her newspaper for us in our building or the same woman we see on the street that says hello to Harlan everyday or even the mail lady that loves to greet me with my last name when she sees me, the people of my community, of my city, are top notch.