KEELEY JULY’S 31-DAY CHALLENGE
Living Out of Place in the Place I Called Home
You don’t need to travel to face culture shock.
Day Twenty-One prompt: Tell me about a time where you experienced culture shock.
Those who follow me on Medium know I’m no world traveller. I thrive in familiar surroundings and am not partial to living downtown in the city. I grew up in mid-town. With time, I kept moving further north until I began living my dream just north of my late grandparents’ apartment building. As a young child, I swore I’d buy acres of farmland there. However, by the time my husband and I bought our house and moved in, it was suburban land. My hopes for cattle and horses died, along with our lack of funds.
I loved living in housing where no one was tripping over the other. My children had a sizeable backyard, ample parks, and a mall close by. I was living the dream, but truth be told, we all looked like each other. We dressed alike and had the current hairstyles to match.
Then it happened. My life circumstances changed, and I moved back to mid-town and got a job in the lower city in a trendy part of town. Each day, I’d travel to work and walk the busy streets filled with the homeless, the squeegee kids, and the art conscious. I couldn’t believe all the…
