Summer Doldrums

I am one step closer to moving the f$%# out of Long Beach, what with Marissa finding a temporary sublet in an apartment in Queens. As soon as I get back from Costa Rica she's moving back to NY and we're going to crack down on the apartment hunt. This is good as I'm so over the commute and living on Long Island, though I hardly venture outside Long Beach, unless it's to visit Josh in Freeport. I can hardly bear anything else. However, although I can't wait to move out, I have to say I think I will miss some of the LB community, mostly the people (although I'm sure I'll be back plenty once I move away to visit my folks). It strikes me every once in a while (and for some reason, a bit more lately), that Long Beach is a very small, tight-knit community. In reality, it's pretty large, but there are so many circles that are intertwined that I often find myself talking to someone who knew someone else I knew years ago. I think I like that. I just came from a shivah call...a friend of my parent's, ex-neighbor, and former employer (I babysat his daughter) just passed away from lung cancer. I feel really emotional about this, mainly because the family is very close to mine and the kids are so close in age to me and my sister. It's just not fair to see a family torn apart like that. But what really got me was all the friends that were around and helping out, without needing to be asked and without over sentimentality...it's just a given that they'll always be around to help out and this to me is what defines a true community. I only hope that one day I live in such a caring, supportive environment. I almost want to be that eccentric old lady who lives alone, but is never physically alone...always has friends and family stopping through to visit, to share a meal, share a story, play music. Right now I envy my parents that sense of stability, of rootedness, what with all my own friends so scattered over the land and sea. I know now that I could never live far from home for too long. Perhaps I'm feeling sentimental myself, but I've always been one for nostalgia. It hinders me somewhat, I think, but most of the time it's what gets me through the day. That, and looking toward the future...