Wednesday, 17 September 2008
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I'm-Still-Jenna-From-The-Block, Where Are You From?
by Nurse Jenna
“Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got. I’m still, I’m still, Jenna-From-The-Block.” I’m joking about the “rocks” part; nurses don’t really do THAT well. I heard that song on the radio driving home from work yesterday. You remember it, don’t you? Back when J. Lo was Bennifer. Now she sits in “rockers” with her twins instead of wearing “rocks” on the manicured hands. But as her song lyrics say, “No matter where I go, I know where I came from.” Which for her may be Southside Bronx, but for me is Westside Chicago—a cornfield, actually.The reason I bring this up is because many people (most, I believe) live within a fairly close radius of where they grew up and will possibly even raise their children in the same town. I have lived all over the country and do not foresee myself going back “home.” My sister and her family live near my parents and I’m the West Coast black sheep of the bunch. My mom even recently made some comment about how “the rest of us here are really Midwesterners.” It got me thinking.
I was born and spent my early childhood in Alabama and then the remainder of it in a small town outside Chicago. But all of my adult life has been in big cities, notably both the East Coast in NYC, and now the West Coast here in San Francisco. It made me think that I am more about where I choose to live then where I happened to grow-up.I choose to live in a city where they have banned plastic bags to save the environment, and people really do carry their own reusuable bags to the store. It is progressive enough that restaurants must provide health insurance to all wait staff and public transportation is supplied by emissions-free vehicles. It is a racially and culturally diverse area that reaps the benefits that its diversity provides in its food, music, architecture,educational opportunities and many other avenues.
California maintains the open mindedness that only two states in the entire country have—allowing gay marriage. It also has one of, if not THE, strongest Nurses’ Union in the country. Consequently, I am paid what I am worth and I do not get exploited by my employer like many healthcare workers do. I take care of an appropriate number of patients so that safety is a priority, I get to eat lunch (most days), and I am not forced to work overtime. What an amazing and enlightened concept, isn't it? And to boot I am surrounded by the natural beauty of the ocean, the mountains and the valleys, and enjoy a climate unsurpassed in the world.
I DO know where I came from, but I also know why I choose to be where I am. What things draw you to where you live? Do you live far from where you grew up?
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Comments (23)
I live within 20 miles of the city where I attended elem/middle/high school and I am about 10 miles from where my parents now live. (All in the DFW area of Texas). I spent 6 years away - college for me and my husband and a year of him working in another city - but always knew I'd end up back in this area. I love it here and my family and extended family are mostly all here. It is important to me to raise my kids knowing and being around their cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other extended family so that's why I made the choice to live here as an adult.....
I live 1/2 the country away from where I grew up. One day I hope to live in the town I grew up in, but for now I'm very happy where I am. Different parts of this country have very different vibes, that's for sure.
My home town has grown in the years since I left, but there's still something..."hick-ish" about it and the pay-grade sucks. (Seriously, Verizon built their call center there because it was the lowest labor rate they could find. You give people $8 an hour out there and they thinking they're getting one over on you.) Orlando can be a little too urban sometimes, but I like the neighborhood we live in and there's beauty to be had if you just know where to look for it...away from the tourist traps and such. In ten years or so, maybe we'll look at moving further North, but within Florida. At that point, it will largely depend on Tim's job...if he wants to stay there or if they have another branch that he can transfer to.
I live less than 1 mile from my childhood home and I hope to never leave the area! I love it so much. We live in a rural area, but are only 3 hours away from NYC, 1.5 hours from Philadelphia and 1.5 hours from Baltimore. I like having the best of both worlds, but I could never, ever live in a city.
I live on the other side of the country as where I grew up, because my husband's job is out here. All of my family is back home, and it's been hard being "alone" out here with young kids. It would be nice to live near my family, although I definitely don't want to live in my hometown. There are just some people from my past that I'd rather not run into.
When you are raising young children, there's nothing better than being near family. Duh, free, built in babysitters, who love your children almost as much as you do!!! That being said, I live in the town my husband grew up in, and his parents are only a 10 minute drive away. We live about an hour from my parents. Close enough you can go visit just for the day when you want to. So, my children see their grandparents often, and we have babysitters when we need them. As a matter of fact, my in-laws had my 2 boys spend the night a couple nights ago, just for fun. How great is that?!
I live two hours away from Queens! I've lived in Jersey for about 9 years. I hate this place, but I'm used to it. I'm more of a city girl. But unfortunately, my daughter was born in Jersey! cant wait till I get outta here!
I live about 30 minutes away from the city I grew up in. As for my husband, well he and his mother are the owners of the house that my husband and I live in, which happens to be the house that my husband grew up in until he was around 12 years old. The house was rented out after they moved, and the windows still bear BB Gun holes from my husband's childhood gun. The house is in the same city as the house he lived in after this one (from age 12-24 when we got married), and the majority of my in-laws live in our city as well. Thank God it's a rather large city and my nightmare about them popping in unnanounced and running into them everywhere hasn't come true! (well not often enough for me to grumble). My mother in law lives on the complete opposite end of town and that's all that matters!!!
i live in germany, and it's definitely not our long term home... but it's okay for now. i think anywhere in texas would be where i consider my roots, although it's not where i was born.
We just moved back close to where I grew up. I live in the Bay Area too, moving to the suburbs in the East Bay from San Francisco. I totally understand why you like it here. I am so shocked when I go anywhere else in the country. I'm so not conscious about being Asian when I'm in the Bay Area, but anywhere else we stick out. It's very colorful here in these parts, and all the flavors we have here...especially the flavors in the food!
I live about an hour from where I grew up. I want to raise my children in a small, crime free community (crime rate is less than 5% here, with no violent crimes at all in the past two years!), which is why we chose this area. I definitely would not want to live in a large city, although they can be fun to visit.
I am from Cleveland, My husband from Chicago but our kids were born in Hawaii, Ohio and Wisconsin so where does that leave them? When they ask us where they are from we tell the America, and that your roots are where your family is.
@Gunnermom@xanga - i really like that way of thinking, it's awesome! :)
I don't live that far from where I grew up. I was born in Houston, lived in Pittsburgh for 3 years and then ended up back in Houston in 1991. When I graduated from high school I went to Texas A&M which is about 80 miles from my parents house. Then David got a job and we ended up moving to Houston after college. I live something like 17 miles from my parents house. I could have been closer. We almost moved into a neighborhood down the street from theirs (less than 5 miles away).
David is from Arlington and both his parents still live in that area.
Texas all the way...best state in the country!
San Antonio to be specific: aside from college that's where I've always lived and that's where I plan to die. I love having a "place" I can call my own.
I currently live about 80 miles from where I grew up. However, for the past 2 years I lived 5000 miles away from where I grew up.
We live where we live for my husbands work. I am a SAHM. I go where my husband goes. I never saw myself staying in my hometown.. and was glad to leave. I like visiting... it is a quaint town, love the lake, and all my family is there. But it is not a town where I want to spend the rest of my days.
I live in a small town where people actually go downtown. The local community theatre is active. There are childrens events all the time, and the community has regular events.
I enjoy where we live. But, I also know this is probably not where we will stay forever and ever. I do have limitations though.
For 2 years I lived in a big city.... downtown... in an apartment. There are advantages to living in that kind of environment. You can walk everywhere or take public transportation. And we did. We didn't even own a car during those 2 years. Everything is close. There are cultural things all around you... museums, theatres, concerts... you name it. But, there is no yard. There are cars everywhere. There are PEOPLE everywhere. There is NOISE everywhere.
I will not do that again.
I am open to living in various places. But then again, I know home is where my husband and my daughter are... so where they are, I am happy.
College draws me to this town, but every day I think about how I could be someone else, somewhere else. Anywhere in the world, I could reinvent myself; I wouldn't have to tell anyone anything about who I was or anything that's happened to me. It could work. It could be amazing. It could be what I need.
That being said, my hometown will always be my hometown. There's something about security in walking down the street and everyone knowing my name - or my last name, I guess. There's security in a small town and feeling,.. well, however that feels. Although I don't plan on living in that town after I finish college, I know that I can always go home.
Interesting. I got thinking about this a while ago. I didn't choose where I grew up... so I'm stuck with where I'm from for the rest of my life. It's a slight disappointment because it's not somewhere super cool (I always feel like immediately defending it when I mention where I'm from) but I'm not too bothered, because it's nice enough for me.
Where I will live when I move out depends on where the military decides to put me (and for some periods of time that will be floating in the middle of the ocean ;P) so I don't have much of a say there, either. But I know why I chose the Navy, so I'm proud of that.
We live within 20 minutes of both my husband's and my parents...and I usually like it that way. There are times that I wish there were a bit more distance, but not too often.
I think it would be interesting to see if your opinion on this changes at all when you have kids (if you want to). I have a know a lot of people whose opinions change completely on this when they have kids and they want to closer support of family. Not saying it IS going to happen, just would be interesting to see.
Just passing thru......had to comment on this entry. I'll be visiting SF today to go to the Saks 5th Ave purse sale with my sis! I'm in the city I was raised (born in Burlingame), San Jose.
My father was born/raised in SF and I wish I had lived there growing up as I just love the diversity of the city.
You write VERY well! Have a wonderful weekend.
Thats great, I like the sound of where you live! Go green! I'm from Chicago myself, and while I miss it, I would never raise my kids there. I came here to get away from the trouble of that city, and I don't intend to ever throw my kids into that mix.
I have lived in enough cities that when people ask me where I'm from, I don't have a good answer. I usually tell them the city in which I went to high school. My parents moved a bit, and I am not really at a point in life where I can plant roots, and I'm getting antsy thinking about moving again. I'm a home-body, so I'd LOVE to stick to one place for more than a year. But that probably won't happen anytime soon. I envy those of you who have lived in the same place your whole lives.