otherwise, we'd never have known

it's funny what becomes second nature when you learn to exist in a new place. despite the english language, the atlantic ocean, the PBR, and the wawa's, Norfolk is surely not Florence. It's not even Philly for that matter. two years ago when mark and i crossed the mason dixon line i didn't anticipate the culture shock that would ensue. there was a sudden absense of honking horns on the interstate and the zippy checker outters at the grocery store (or any store for that matter). as if the south's lifestyle wasn't enough to get used to, we also enterd one of the largest military meccas in the world. Home of the Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk is a conglomerate of people coming and people going. Not until mark and i coached a local rec soccer team did I meet someone born and raised-Norfolk style. just like at one time it i had become immune to the roosters and donkeys and dogs incessant chatter on the islands, nowadays it's nothing to have your chest (and sometimes furniture) reverberate daily from big metal birds zooming not so high above your head. You tell me. How many times have we been on the phone and i've had to ask you to hold on cause a E-2 Hawkeye, C130 plane or F-16 fighter jet was making you sound like that teacher off of Charley Brown? "What's that you say?- hold on a minute. all i hear is 'wah wah wah wah wah'--I can't understand a word." so it got me to athinking to put a little twist on a devious little game. "If not for Norfolk, never would i have ever...." First off, i would have never learned the authentic, true way to prounounce the city---Nawfuk..so all you who come down here pronouncing your Rs and LKs--- you my as well have Yank tattoed on your forehead.

so if not for norfolk, i never would have...crossed the chesapeake bay bridge so much! smelled the crape myrtle tree, learned the story behind the odd lady who religiously hoollah hoops on granby st, eaten so much crab and done so much fishing. never would i have learned the struggles of this city's homeless or spent time with some of the city's lost youth. never would i have felt the joys and frustrations of being a soccer coach. the jaycees would have been just some cultish clique. never would i have witnessed the love and care a mother can have for her son with disabilities; the patience she has shown and the small wins she embraces. She has reminded us what is really important in life. the love for each other. the thristy camel and the redneck pier helped break the waiting for mark to come home from deployment. but most of all, the people i have met and their love of life that inspires.