My 'Hood

I am in Philadelphia!

(Technically, I am in Ardmore, but it's a very close suburb of Philadelphia.)

So I've been here about 20 hours and I've only cried three times. Awesome. My initial sob-fest occurred as I was driving to Carrie and Marcello's house, where the tot and I are currently lodging. I was driving through my old neighborhood, I saw my old house and the house we lived in before that. But the thing that got to me was this old inn. Ten years ago the place was called the General Wayne Inn, and it was locally known because one of the owners murdered his business partner there. Throughout the decade we lived here, several other businesses have tried to operate from the space, and every single one of them folded in under a year. There has been talk of a curse. Most of the attempted businesses have been in the bar/restaurant category. Now there is a new game in town, though. The building is currently housing the Chabad Center for Jewish Life. I hope in my heart of hearts that the new occupants have found a way to cleanse the space in order to operate successfully for a long time.

Why was this the thing that made me weep, you ask? Maybe it's because I am a crazy person at heart. Maybe I have a soft spot for family-oriented Jewish people. But I think it was simply the fact that it changed. In the three short months that I have been gone, things have changed. My salon moved to a new building. That condo they were working on for forever is finished. The Church Street bridge is closed. I left and life continued to move on without me. I'm afraid that the longer I stay away, the less and less this place is going to feel like home.

I'm crying again. That's four.