Living In The Mid-Atlantic States Of Delaware And Maryland

Living in several U.S. States has informed my life and worldview

Photo by Bob Smith on Unsplash

My husband’s great-aunt lived in one place her entire life. This was common for people generations ago. But she lived less than an hour from Niagara Falls, New York, and never saw the falls. She never left Erie County. Isn’t that sad? I think so.

Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. © Carol Labuzzetta, 2008.

In 1989, my husband and I moved from Buffalo, New York to the Mid-Atlantic State of Delaware. We moved so my husband could start a rehabilitation medicine research job with the Nemours Foundation. I was finishing my graduate degree in nursing, and completing the editing of my thesis.

Delaware is a strange little state. Our first indication of this was our search for an apartment. We were told, “Don’t live below the canal.” Huh? What canal? Why? Not being from the area, we didn’t understand what this was all about. Looking back, it was a local prejudice, I’m sure.

“The canal is a landmark and cultural boundary for the state of Delaware, considered a divide between the urbanized northern portion of the state and the rural southern portion, known locally as…