A Little MS with a Little MSW

Any of you out there remember the show Cheers?

My husband and I recently moved to a new state for his job, and this is my first time ever being in a place where everyone is a stranger. My hometown is growing more and more by the second- but still – it was never unusual to bump into a friend or an acquaintance, or at least a familiar face.

So, how has it been for me? After 40-something years in the same town, what has it been like to be the new kid in town? My answer may or may not surprise you, I don’t know…

It’s been nice.

This is a very outdoorsy city, and I have been hiking every square inch of it. Familiar sights are fabulous, but immersing your senses in something for the very first time adds a twist to the experience that is foreign in those hometown comfort settings we take for granted.

I do have moments of longing for familiarity, however. Just today, I rounded the corner in the pharmacy and expected to see a pharmacy tech with whom I’ve been doing business for years. The absence of the familiar brought a temporary pang that cast a spotlight on my new role as the outsider.

I am the introverted outsider who is waiting for an extrovert to adopt me. As I wait, however, I have been flexing my independent muscle and serving as my own tour guide around the city since my husband is gainfully employed and I have yet to find a job… or friends.

Home is where the heart is. We’ve all heard it. My home happens to be scattered across a few different states, but the message here is that home is found in our loved ones. Home lives and breathes, and even when it dies, it lives forever in our hearts.