There’s something about the town that you call home that reverberates deep within your soul and makes you feel as if all is right with the world when you’re in that place. I’ve never really known the feeling of being home in a town until the last few months when I was contemplating moving from Chicago to Chattanooga. I love Chattanooga as it’s a funky and fun little town nestled in the mountains. From Chattanooga, you can drive to the mountains of North Carolina or the beaches of South Carolina.
However, just thinking about leaving Chicago caused a visceral tug in my gut that reminded me that there’d be no skyscrapers, no family, and that it would take me a while to settle in and find the best pizza place, the grocery store with the freshest produce, and all those other things that I take for granted. We’ve lived in the Northwest suburbs for almost 10 years and that’s the longest time we’ve ever spent in one area and after 10 years, it’s finally starting to feel like home. We know our way around, we know which shortcuts will help us avoid the traffic, and we know where to find most things we’d every hope to need.
Since Sean’s been downtown, I’ve been working to expand my horizon and am learning to love being by a big and diverse city where there is always something going on. I can find Mexican, Chinese, Italian, or anything else I want downtown without too much effort. I’m also learning to love Sean’s neighborhood and all of its diversity.The hills and valleys of the mountains will always draw me and I will always love feeling the peacefulness of the country, but I’m learning to appreciate the beauty in the concrete jungle. There’s a majesty in man made mountains that almost rivals that of natural mountains as you think about all the creativity and ingenuity that it took to build skyscrapers that tower over the earth. Just like Westminster Abbey is as a tribute to the residents of 960 London who built the Abbey, Chicago’s skyscrapers are a tribute to the architects and construction workers of the 20th century who built them upon 
the ruins of a city destroyed in 1871 in the Great Chicago Fire. Out of the ashes of that tragedy, a bright, beautiful, and cosmopolitan city grew.
the ruins of a city destroyed in 1871 in the Great Chicago Fire. Out of the ashes of that tragedy, a bright, beautiful, and cosmopolitan city grew.I will always love to travel the world, but right now it is feeling mighty blissful to look upon the towers of Chicago and know that I’m home.
Cairn by Cairn 