Going Home Again

They say you can't go home again. Well, obviously you can physically go back again to a place you once called home. But things change, people grow, you're different and it's not the same. Which is not to say it can't be GOOD to go home, it's just not the same.

This weekend I made a whirlwind trip to Portland, the City I called home for the first 16 years of my adult life. I've been back many times since I left the Rose City 3 years ago. I'm only living 3 hours away now and I have many good and wonderful friends in town. I always feel welcomed and at home. I LOVED living in Portland. It's a truly great City. Easy to get around. Progressive. Well designed. Good public transit. A great ethic. And the right amount of weirdness ... hence my favorite bumper sticker "Keep Portland Weird."

I think I can honestly say that I'm ok not living in Portland anymore. This was a major discernment issue for me, as I came to Portland a broken and wounded young woman. It was in Portland that I healed, that I came into my own, that I found God again and began to see glimmers of who I was meant to be. It was hard to leave a place that felt so much like home. But the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace also felt like home (as my last post indicates) and are not present in Portland. Hence the discernment issue. 3 years on the other side of that decision, I continue to receive affirmation that it was the right one for me.

It's also nice to be able to go back "home" and see life going on well for my friends. I went to mass this morning at my old parish. While I've been back to St Phil's several times, today there was a concentration of folks I haven't seen in a long time from the Young Adult Group. We were all single young professionals 8-1o years ago growing into our faith. Now, many of them are young parents. It was great to see the little ones running around together after mass, ranging from a one year old to a smattering of 3 year olds, 5 year olds and 8 year olds. A perfect illustration that life goes on.

Another illustration that life goes on is the fact that there are many new buildings. Old sketchy neighborhoods are now trendy. There's a new "it" taco place. Businesses have closed and new ones taken their place. It's a familiar city to me, but it's different all the same.