Last week, I had the opportunity to visit a most beloved place. A city that held and meant so much to me for my formative, young adult years. This place beheld my first years as a married woman; my grad school endeavors; and my most immersive ministry experiences in the U.S.
Consequently, this place holds many memories and special relationships.
It is also one of the most beautiful and fascinating places I know.
I had not been back to Philly for over 8 years. The intervening years held my most significant life changes to date. Ted and I lived and served in Haiti in these years. We also became parents and reacclimated to life on the West Coast. These recent years have been intense in ways that our grad school and ministry days in Philly were not - strange as that may sound.
Tragedy and growth and new experiences have marked this time.
Which is why revisiting Philly felt a bit like going back in time, and a bit like visiting an alternate reality - a place I knew so well, yet the finer memories of which had grown dusty and muddled with disuse. I couldn't remember what the airport looked like, or how Henry Ave connects with Walnut Lane. All of the pieces fell back into place as we drove the streets of Mt Airy and Chestnut Hill, and as I took in the sounds, smells and textures of a place that I once knew so well.
I got to reconnect with two dear, wonderful friends - I am lucky to know women of such caliber. I got to laugh, hike, soak my feet in Wissahickon Creek, and taste the city's delicacies. I spent a day meandering through the Art Museum and strolling along the Ben Franklin Parkway in sunny, crisp weather; collecting memories and treats to take home for my loved ones. All my senses were satiated, and I came home filled with gratitude and appreciation for this place that shaped me for over six years.
