So September 1st will mark exactly one year since I moved to the "big city." You would think that after living and working here for a year, I would no longer assume phone numbers start with the area code 419. One would think, but one would be wrong. Just today, when filling out some paper work, I started to fill in the phone number and started writing 419-216...wait a minute..those are two different area codes. Old habits die hard, right? But to me, there is so much more to it than just an old habit. The two area codes represent the two major chapters in my life. The majority of my 24 years have been spent living in a 419 area code and a 419 way of life. What am I talking about? 419 way of life? You might not think there are differences between the lifestyles simply based on area code, but I assure you there are. Nothing specifically bad or good. Just different. 419 represents the easy way of life. The life where I was being taken care of by my parents. The college life which we all know is "the life." 216 represents the new chapter in my life. The "real world" chapter and the soon to be "for better or for worse" chapter. The other day I caught myself referring to something in Cleveland and I said "we" as if myself and the Cleveland community are a collective unit where as before I would have said "they." I don't want to read too much into it, but maybe..just maybe...I'm ready to start that second chapter of my life. While there are parts of the 419 life that I really miss (my family, my animals, very little rush hour) there is so much excitement here in the 216. My new house, my recent engagement, my future husband, career opportunities, and all the exciting activities that come with living in a big city with 3 major sports teams! I've never been one to handle change well, so it should come as no surprise that after a year I'm still in the "adjusting" stage. I will tell you this. I don't regret, not even for a second, moving to Cleveland. It was the best move for my relationship and in turn, the best move for me. I've learned so much at my job and have met a lot of wonderful people. That being said, I will always be a 419 kind of girl. You can take the girl out of the 419, but you can't take the 419 out of the girl. :)
I recently joined the group 20 Something Bloggers and stumbled across the blog below where Sandy is creating and releasing 1000 paper cranes with a different inspirational word on each one. She leaves them for others to find and to hopefully spread a bit of positive energy and "world peace" which is what cranes symbolize. She came up with this idea after reading "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Elanor Coerr which is a book about a girl from Hiroshima who was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to fold 1000 cranes before she died but unfortunately only made it to 644. I was inspired when reading her blog and thought you might be interested in learning about it too! Sandy and the 1000 Paper Cranes: About The Project : "So why 1000 paper cranes? What started this all? After reading the true story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Elanor Coerr, I was..."
Comments