Welcome Home

As I stepped off the train at Union Station, I could already feel it.  It grew as we tramped along Front Street, although I couldn't yet identify it.  By the time we got to John Street, I could feel the tumblers falling into place, unlocking that part of me that I experience so rarely: being at home. 

Halfway between Front and Queen, the kids were complaining about the wind.  They were cold.  Their legs were numb.  Ordinarily, I, too, would be loathe to be outside on such a cold, windy day but put me in the City and a different part of my brain takes over, because walking outside is just what you do, regardless of the weather.  I told them to suck it up, that we were halfway to our destination.  I tried pointing out interesting places along the way: the art gallery, Campbell House, the Parliament Buildings, old and new city halls and look! people skating in Nathan Philips Square.  How about that truck crashing out of the wall two stories up?  And here are some neat stores, some of which I used to shop at 20 years ago (and please don't notice or ask about the Head Shop or the Condom Shack next door).  Most of it didn't interest them in the least -- the cold was too overpowering.  

It was disappointing but I know that in warmer weather, the children also like the City, especially China Town.  I also know that in a few years, when my daughter is a teenager, I will be able to take her shopping in all the funky little second hand shops in Kensington Market (but that she will most likely find the imported cheeses and deli shops there much more fascinating).  I know that my kids will one day appreciate the second run movie theatres, the buskers and the cultural offerings the City has to offer.   Some day, I hope that they, too, will come to love the City as much as I do.

I also hope that my children will one day have some place that they can identify with.  I hope that they, too, will find a place they can call home.  The City has changed significantly in the last two decades since I was lucky enough to call it home, but there is still enough there that hasn't changed that its appearance and its atmosphere are still recognizable.  It still feels like the City I know and love, and the one place on Earth that I can truly call home.