“Oh, Boston, You’re My Town”

It has been an “awesome” 20+ years in Boston, and I’m feeling sentimental about moving away. Those of you in New England know that this blog post title is a song, and you can hear the guitar riff already! I got choked up canceling my Boston Globe subscription, which I’ve been reading since starting at Simmons College in 1988. I like the International Herald Tribune newspaper just fine, and all I need is the Globe headlines overseas, but it’s been a steady connection through the ups and downs of community life in eastern Massachusetts. I’ll never forget "our" brief alliance with NYC in 2001 or the outpouring of love from the world in April 2013.

Even though I haven’t driven or taken the T into the city every week or even every month during the years I’ve worked in the suburbs, I’ve always loved the Boston skyline, despite changes such as the newer name of the “Boston Garden”, the newer skyscraper next to the Prudential, and the additions to Fenway Park. I could hear the Red Sox fans roaring from my dorm room when the wind blew in the right direction, and attended my first game with a Cleveland Indians fan!

I won’t miss the traffic jams on the Pike or 128, but I will miss the smell of the ocean in Salem. Living in land-locked Austria during my junior year abroad was a preview of our upcoming place in Germany, but other adventures will make up for being away from the ocean. I won’t miss “M***hole” drivers, but I will miss people calling me “Baaahhhbra”, even though I don’t talk that way myself. In German, they say “BarbaRA”.

I won’t miss American fast food, which I rarely partake of, but I will miss our many friends and community groups. I look forward to new friends, and will share updates on finding a church, book group/library, yoga class, singing group, etc. At least I know for sure that the food in Germany is excellent.

What has worked for you to meet new people after a move?