Why I love Villa Park
The joys of small town/suburban living did not allude me when I was home for a short stint this weekend. However chaotic my own personal schedule may have been, there was still the unspoiled atmosphere of lingering leisure and easiness wafting about. 18 years of living in a town sharp on the cusp of a major metropolitan to be an outlet of entertainment, but yet somehow unfettered by the hustle and bustle, brings pangs of pride and slight sadness - reminiscent of a time when things were more innocent, almost irreproachable.
This is a place where on any given Sunday afternoon, the elderly knife wielder who will sharpen your kitchen blades for 50 cents can be seen rolling his cart down the sidewalk after the close of the French market. It’s also a place that for as long as I can remember, our neighbors remember every single family member’s birthday and stop by with a card and small gift, and don’t turn out their own bedroom lights until the last remaining teenager has returned home.
It’s most definitely a friendly town, where 9 out of every 10 people (I counted) on the walking trail will say hello and possibly stop for a chat. Gossip runs rampant, and in two short days, I now know the current ongoings of most everyone on our block (the neighbors in the brown house both work for the school district recently renovated their house because they like to entertain; the couple in the house kitty-corner from us who’ve always had questionable taste in lawn ornaments are moving soon). Children still play on the street without fear, and it is a place where my fifth grade teacher still recognizes me at the grocery store.
Even more importantly than all of these things, it’s a place where my family, my love and life, reside. And even though it’s been six years and some odd months since the first time I said goodbye… it never gets any easier.
posted by Sheila @ 8/15/2005 08:27:00 AM
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