My Town

I've recently found out about a slew of friends (or friends of friends) who have recently moved or about to move to my town from other areas in greater Boston. They're all friends in their thirties. And exciting to have them as closer neighbors.

At first I was super excited (still am) since when I first moved to my town the people I knew were all older than me, sometimes by decades and I knew them more through my industry than hanging out with. And over the years the people I've become friends, mostly from being on committees have also been older and lived in the town much longer. But now all my contemporaries are joining my good taste in towns and I'm suddenly aware of how much I've not fully taken advantage of exploring my town and learning all the ins and outs.

I just realized this summer we had a beach - the kind with a life guard and everything. You can put it mildly that I'm not always up to date on all the great stuff. Which I never noticed before since I hung out with friends in other towns and not my own. But now that's all changing. I won't be the guru about all the neat things in town for those who visit - I'll be surpassed by some of my friends. Which is great since I can cheat and learn more easily about stuff and yet I still feel it erodes my claim to the town. I was here first - darn it!

And then it dawned on me. My name is all over town. In bronze. On the plaques of the buildings I've worked on. I have nothing to worry about - this is my town, and I'm happy to share it.