Have You Seen My Tribe?
“I miss New York. Your shirt.”
I was shopping at Sprouts Farmers Market (pretty much the only place I buy groceries) when the woman stocking the shelves commented on my shirt.
“Me too. What part are you from?”
We got to talking. She still keeps her apartment in the village.
“What brings a dazzling urbanite like yourself to these quaint parts?”
“My partner’s mother is here, and she has dementia…”
We spent about twenty minutes talking about all that we love about New York and San Francisco, and all the ways they’ve changed — not for the better — in recent years, and how we both struggle to find our tribe in the place we both now call home. We talked about other cities we could see moving to, about possibly pursuing dual citizenship to expand the options (me), about having a doctorate from Amhurst (her). The question “Why are you working here if you have a doctorate…?” began in my head, but I answered it before I even finished thinking it: Life.
Life happens. And we find ourselves in places, doing things, with people, that we could never have imagined if we’d asked our younger selves. Which can be really beautiful or really tragic, depending on the situation. She told me her name and thanked me for wearing the shirt. I thanked her for the conversation. I will definitely make a point of saying hey to her next time I’m there.
I’m also going to wear my I❤️NY T-shirt a lot more when I go out. Maybe there are more like her out there.
