Places in the Heart

View of our city from the 25th floor of the Revere Hotel, which used to be the
 Radisson, where my husband was based when we met. Can you see the patina of sweet sentiments?

Friday marks four years that my husband and I have been married. It's been almost that long since we've lived outside the metro area where we met, fell in love, and got hitched: Boston. So last Labor Day weekend, we took a long, toll-filled, rainy trip.

Boston. It's still there! It changes so little in comparison to other places. And it's achingly beautiful, even in the rain, so why should it change? A lot people have bad things to say about this city, but I don't think anyone can deny it's the most simultaneously studious, historical, and introverted place in the United States. Which is to say, it's like me. It also has fabulous public transportation, something I find necessary and all too rare. Aside from that, all the quirks and things some people find annoying charm me.

So I'm not ashamed to say we spent most of our time over the weekend too choked up for words. I just wish Boston would love us back a little more, with a more reasonable cost of living and/or a job offer. We're willing to work hard, believe me!

When we moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona in late 2010, we stopped in what seemed like the middle of the night to eat an ice cream cone mere miles away from our destination. A sense that we were headed in the wrong direction seized me and I was crying hysterically even as I wiped up the chocolate drips.

"What's wrong?" my husband asked.

"I wanna go back to Boston!" I blubbered.

I came to love Arizona, too, for its own uniqueness and the stellar people I met. But Boston will always occupy a place in my heart that loves when everything is in its proper place. I'm not sure it was wise to make this trip, because that longing has only intensified and I'm not sure we can do a darn thing about it.

Anyway, if this list brings a smile to your face and a tear to your eye, you might be a Boston expatriate, like me. Happy anniversary to the love of my life, who I just realized is as fond of Boston as I am.