A Place to Call Home

I love the city where I went to school.  It's got Character, with a capital C.  I purposely arrived a few hours early for my visit with my senior year nannygirls so I could wander Northampton again and take it all in.  It didn't disappoint, that's for sure.  The first thing I saw, once I had located a bathroom, was this:

Ah yes.  Apparently unicorns are still among us.  And if anything rules, it surely is time.  Toilet paper dispenser wisdom.

Then I indulged in some iced coffee at my favorite coffee shop (where ha! I didn't have homework to do!  So there!) and had a deliciously long and drawn-out visit to the used bookstore where huge, industrial fans stir the musty air and people unashamedly spread themselves out on the floor, surrounded by books.

Then, I spent the evening with the family whose girls I cared for my senior year at Smith.  I am blessed to have them in my life, and I know they will be there forever.  The girls will be surrogate big sisters for my babes, and their mother is a gift of a friend and confidant.  I love them.  I loved eating chili and drinking milk.  I loved snapping photos of the girls, running and jumping and posing, and occasionally I'd grab one while they weren't paying attention, and those were the best:

I am so lucky.  To love and be loved. 
"Come back soon!" their mom said, as she enveloped me in a tight hug.
"I love you, Cakey," whispered Sage as she hugged me goodbye.
"I love you to pieces," I whispered back.

My heart calmed as I drove home.  I may have graduated, but I didn't leave them behind.  They're still with me.  I will see them grow up.  And that is the most priceless gift a nanny can be given.