The Chipster - Brady

I finally stopped being a bad daughter today and bookmarked a website my dad writes a column for (www.whatsnewlaporte.com). Reading it clarified for me one reason I'm nervous to embark on this transition to grad school and beyond.

My dad is exceptionally involved in La Porte, the town where he's lived his entire life, minus college. If he reads this he'll probably roll his eyes, but he actually does really cool stuff there. He knows everyone in town, he was on the Park Board and is currently involved with an organization that provides services for disabled people, he broadcasts all the high school sporting events, and he now writes the column I wrote about above. 

I'm really envious of that kind of community involvement. After college, I lived with my parents for a year in La Porte, then moved to Chicago for two years, then to Fort Wayne for another two years, and now I'm going back to Chicago for four to five. I have no idea where I'll end up after grad school. All of this moving means I just start adjusting to a place, developing my routine, getting comfortable with my friends, and then I leave. 

In La Porte, for example, I'd work out at the YMCA (where I'd invariably see somebody from high school), get cokes from McDonald's and Propel from Walgreen's, and go to Hilbish, this locally owned drugstore in town, at least once a week. I was able to meet my mom for lunch and for walks home from work and help out some Spanish-speaking families in town by translating and tutoring. In Chicago, Kevin and I went to the same farmer's market all summer, movies in Grant Park, and a great neighborhood bar called River Shannon as often as we could. I'd walk a different route to my El stop through the beautiful neighborhoods around my apartment every day and never get bored. Now, in Fort Wayne, I've got my running routes, yoga class, baseball team (Go Tincaps!), favorite restaurants, a bar (Columbia Street West) where I know I will stay up way too late dancing if I set foot in there on a Saturday night, and really, really good friends. I'm even figuring out yard work. And I'm leaving again.

At first finding new routines in new places was exciting, but at this point I'm pretty tired of all the upheaval. I would love to be in a place long enough to do the kinds of things my dad does.

Okay, enough whining about having cool opportunities to live in cool places. :) There will be plenty of time to settle down when I'm older. And I really am excited about Chicago - don't know if you can tell that from all of my belly-aching posts.