I always LOVE visiting Bellflower. There are so many familiar faces I get to see - both sides of the family and tons of friends. And it wouldn't be aBellflower trip if there wasn't at least one person from the "dutch mafia" who I had a full conversation with about my family and my life in Sacramento and walked away having no idea who they were. That's one of many things I love about the dutch mafia - everyone knows & cares about everybody's business...particularly the older generation of dutch. It probably doesn't sound so wonderful to someone who is outside of it, but it's so neat to know that hundreds of people in this little no-big-deal city, most likely with the last name prefixed with a "van" or "de" and ending in a "sma," know all about your family history, have grandparents who were lifelong friends of your grandparents, and are praying for you and know all about where you are in life, even though you don't know them at all. I also love that any one of these people can look at you and automatically identify what last name youbelong to.
I was able to have one of these conversations today with some lovely women at the VC elementary campus. I walked in the office doors & they new exactly who I was and who my little Mia was. They asked questions all about both sides of the families..."how are your brother & sister in law doing in Portland? How are all the new babies? I bet your mom is loving it!" Indeed!! Of course, any VC campus is a prime candidate for hosting many of these generational dutchies. Why was I there, you ask? Bringing little Colinator a birthday Burger King lunch, of course! My baby boy nephew is already 7 years old today! I also got the privledge of bringing the birthday girl, my niece miss Kaylie boots, to preschool today with a plate full of pink hello-kitty cupcakes.
Getting to do all of these little things is why I love to visit here. It's funny... Mark &I haven't lived in Bellflower for almost 2 1/2 years already, and God only knows if we'll ever be moving back. But we still refer toBellflower as "home." It's like the Cheers theme song..."Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name..." I imagine Bellflower will always be "home" no matter where we end up.
1 comment:
Love reading your writing, Rachel! Coming home is always so special ... my husband was in the military and we were stationed up in Northern California when my little Lily was a newborn. It was so hard being away from family but I was always so thankful that we were within driving distance. If I ever got too homesick I knew I could just jump in the car (well, pack 18 bags full of Lily's things and then jump in the car!)I hope you are adjusting to your new "home" up north and I know your positive spirit will help you in everything you guys are doing. Hope to see more blogs in the future! :)
Megan Hartley (formerly Megan Murray)
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