I grew up in Philadelphia, PA, not in Center City but definitely in the city enough to call it “the city”. I went to a Catholic school with about 50 or so classmates who all grew up in the same neighborhood. Most of us went to kindergarten together and knew everything about each other.
Yesterday while searching through dozens of myspace, facebook, and all of those other bloggish things, I found a bunch of people that I went to elementary school with. I was excited to see what they were up to, what they look like now, and what their life is like now. Rather than finding college graduates, engagements, employees of well-known companies, I found strippers, alcoholics, high school dropouts, illegitimate children, druggies, and other things that make you go Hmm.
Rather than thinking, “Wow. I’m glad I got out of there before I turned into that,” I think, “Holy crap… if I stayed, would I turn into that?” I’d like to think that the foundation of my personality is strong and no matter where I lived, I would’ve been the same; I’m not sure if this is true or not, but I’d like to think that the basis of “Lauren” would have and will always be there, underneath. My family has always been a strong influence on my life, and I know that they wouldn’t let me turn out like the above-mentioned, at least not without a good fight.
I love you, Philadelphia, and I always will. You hold a special place in my heart. But I guess distance makes the heart grow fonder.
It’s just sad to know that my peers didn’t have the chance to get away and see things from a different perspective.
So if you are reading through this blog and you are from a “big city,” I challenge you to become someone to be proud of.