Steeped in History

Joyce pointed out today that I have not posted a blog in a week!  I have been formulating some ideas in my head and am just getting settled in St. Lucia so have some time, and an internet connection to sit down to write.

Two of our stops last week were to visit the matriarchs- pictured below.

 

 

It is always great to go to my hometown.  I always feel a sense of pride and belonging even though I haven't lived there in over 30 years.  I am proud that I grew up in the town where my mother grew up, where her father grew up, and maybe another generation or two also grew up.  It gives me a sense of entitlement when I go there.  I am not "just visiting", and I am not a local college student's parent, and I am not a tourist, but rather, I am coming home to a city that is steeped in history and in which my history is steeped.

One of the things I like to do when I go home is to go to the famous local bathhouses and soak in a wonderfully large, deep tub filled with hot mineral water.  It is not very often that I find a tub long enough for my whole body to be underwater at the same time.  The mineral waters soften your skin and you feel like a million bucks!

I am steeped in history.

After my Hometown, we went to Jeff's.  Very different type of city.  He points out the tennis courts that he took the subway to play on.  He shows me the corner where he picked up the downtown express bus to go to high school every day.  We drive to the next county to go to a good kosher deli (which served the best chicken liver salad I've ever had).  We grew up in very different places and we are impacted by very different family histories.  My family had clowns and a long Yankee history.  His family survived the holocaust.

We are all steeped in history.