I don't think even I expected such a strong reaction to entering the Gorge. Tears were falling nearly as fast as the rain outside. I realized how much this felt like home - still - and maybe we'd merely been on a very complicated five year trip away. Every tree we passed was another reminder of what I've been missing. I missed this city immensely; my love for it runs very deep. I think I assumed, deep down, that this love had been overblown and if I ever got back, I'd realize that it wasn't as great as it had been built up in my mind. I was wrong. Before we'd hit the city limits, we were trying to figure out how to retire here. Plans were flying fast and furious. We both felt it; we both had missed it.
It's going to be hard to go home.
Now I really have to get to Oregon to see what I'm missing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and written so well in so little space :)
ReplyDeleteI miss it every day I think about it but try to think about it as you had...it would be overblown if I ever get back. And yes I wonder if I got back I would never leave. I miss the air, I miss the slower lifestyle, I miss the arts and everything is has to offer.
But we have so much stinkin' family here and great support (aka lots of free babysitting) that it makes it hard to leave. But I did leave a piece of my heart there.
Oh, Cheryl. It's just as great. I started crying as we left yesterday. Again.
ReplyDeleteThere's now a Trader's Joes on 185th. Not to mention a HUGE shopping mall (nordstrom, etc). The Grove is pretty the same except campus.