When we first found out that we had to move out of our old townhouse last July, I was heartbroken. While we were only renters and knew it was never going to be our home forever, we had built a life there. We had brought our kids home from the hospital to that very townhome. It was ours, and yet, not ours at all.
So in August, we packed up all of our things and moved across town to a new city. A small city, amidst the much larger cities here in South Florida (Miami & Fort Lauderdale). A city so proud that there are signs stating the city’s name on virtually every street corner, but so little that it doesn’t even have its own post office. It’s a suburban oasis known for it’s excellent schools and activities for families.
Since then, it’s been an adjustment. Our daily commutes got longer. We miss some of the restaurants and stores we used to frequent on a weekly basis. There are friends that we now see less because we don’t live down the street anymore. And there are days that we wish we were back in our cozy little townhouse.
With that said, the move was very good for us. We love our new house (and all the much needed space it provides). And for the most part, we love our new neighborhood. But up until now, we hadn’t gotten to know many people in our town…that is, until this weekend when we attended the Founder’s Day celebration at a local park.
No surprise – there were tons of activities for little kids.
They also had bounce houses, rock climbing walls, face painting, and food.
And while I originally thought that this would be an event attended by a few hundred, the turnout was simply astonishing.
And just about everywhere you went people wanted to talk to you about just how much they loved this little city where we now live. I was surprised at just how many people were recent transplants, living in the area a year or less (like us!).
While a freak rainstorm kept us from watching the fireworks show on the field like we planned to, we did end up getting the best seats in the house – turns out the show was directly in front of where we had parked our car, so after we ran to escape the rain we were able to watch the whole fireworks show from the comfort of our own (dry) vehicle.
By the end of the night, the small town that we almost grudgingly left our townhouse for seemed more like home than it had ever felt before. And there’s no doubt that a little of that small city pride had rubbed off on us.
But I’d still like it if we could get our own post office. Just sayin’.
