I mentioned that my dad was having some medical problems and I've been spending a lot time in St. Catharines with my parents. I think I had some romantic notion that it would be like going home. I did grow up here but it's really not home anymore. I left when I was 18 and spent more time living in Toronto than anywhere else.
Everytime I come back to St. Catharines I take it for granted that I'll run into old school friends. The grocery store, the mall, a Wal Mart run for mom and dad. Nope. I've only run into 2 people who said they went to school with me and I hate to admit it but I didn't recognize them or their names. Memory does fade.
I was driving my parents to get their groceries this morning and I saw a sign that read "British Modbeats, Live, Saturday Night, UAW Hall". The British Modbeats use to play at my highschool when I was a teenager. When I moved to Toronto it was with the lead singer of that band and his new band. We lived in an old rooming house on Avenue Rd. where Saturday night food fights in the kitchen were the norm.
That's when I developed my love/hate relationship with Toronto. I eventually moved west and then north. When I worked in the city I'd get in very early and when the shift was over I'd get out as fast as I could. But the last little while I've had the opprotunity to spend time in the city again. You know what? I miss it. It's vibrant, it's interesting, you have to learn to expect the unexpected. In the country the unexpeted is a fugative cow grazing on your lawn or trying to get into your car at 1:30 in the morning while a coyote is starring you down.
I like St. Catharines but I can't say I miss it. I like Mississauga but I don't miss it. I've only been at home, my home, south of Barrie, for a couple of days a week over the past while. I miss my cats, I miss my routine but it's an odd feeling that I didn't miss the area. I do miss Toronto. I've come the realization that Toronto is my real home. I'm comfortable there.
Mom and dad are in the kitchen right now reading obituaries out loud from the newspaper. It's a daily ritual. They don't need me full time anymore so I'm heading home. But this time instead of avoiding Toronto on my way north I think I'll drive through it and enjoy it.
I'm originally from the east coast and have lived in Toronto since 1978. I do love the city, but my heart belongs to the easy peaceful life of the coast, not to mention the lobster. One day I will go back and retire there...which isn't too far away. Yikes!!!
I have lived in Toronto for 35 years but have moved to London, England - moved back; moved to Victoria, BC - moved back; moved to Saltcoats, Scotland - moved back. Net net - like to leave the city but love coming back more!
Jan: who knows I may want to come back too, if I leave at all. It truly is a great city...if only I could afford to buy a house here!
I've always lived around Toronto, and like it that way. Toronto is like visiting a family member you can stand for a short time but eventually want to get away from. I like the St. Lawrence market, Kensington Market, taking in the odd show the Mirvish's put on, but other than that, give me the peace and quiet of the burbs. Congestion, gridlock, Condo over build (anybody complaining about the Gardiner blocking the view of the lake anymore?), concrete jungle, jaded people looking for confrontation, can't believe the amount of road rage, if not between motorists, cyclists or pedestrians. The burbs remind me of cottage country, people who would'nt look you in the eye in Toronto as it may not sit well with the intended person (ask any TTC bus driver about the Gangsta wannabe's and the street code BS), come out of their skin once they are free of it's boundaries.
I expect to get flamed on this view, but lets open the discussion.
Rick C. That's the way I felt too for a long time and I avoided the city at all costs. Maybe it was a little bit of home sickness or maybe it's just time for a change in my life that made Toronto romantic for me this time around. My vet once told me that if you put 7 rats in a shoebox someone's going to get killed. I think that's what we do with cities. Too many people in too small a space. The problem I've found is that it's happening in the burbs too. Gridlock on high way 7 in Vaughn. Bottle neck traffic in Mississauga. I don't know what the answer is.
I've never been one for Toronto - pretty much only go downtown for Blue Jays games - Hamilton is my hometown, wish I could move back there, but now I'm married and working as a teacher in the York Region...but my grandmother lives in Dundas so I do get to go back and visit from time to time.
Speaking of my grandmother - I remember her telling me once she read the obits every day just to make sure her name wasn't there. :)