New Beginnings in a Familiar Place

In February, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. And like a lot of new parents, that little addition to our family kicked off a much bigger conversation: where do we actually want to plant our roots and grow?

A little backstory.

My wife is from New Jersey. She came down to High Point for college, and instead of heading back up north when she finished, she stuck around and eventually landed in Charlotte.

I’m a North Carolina kid through and through. I grew up in Wake Forest, went to Wilmington for college, wanted something new after that, and ended up in Charlotte too.

That’s where we met, started dating, got married, and, well, the rest is history.

Charlotte has been home for the past 10 years. We built a strong friend group there. We had our favorite restaurants and our go-to spots. We knew the streets like the back of our hands.

We lived in all kinds of corners of the city, from Uptown to South End to Plaza Midwood, and eventually out to the suburbs of Ballantyne. Through all the regular adult stuff, paying bills, figuring things out, being fully on our own, it genuinely became ours.

But a baby changes things. We want to be closer to family and friends, and we want more around us that can support the three of us, with the hope of growing our family even more down the road. So here we are, moving back to where I grew up: Wake County.

The funny part is that I used to swear I’d never move back. There was nothing to do, I’d tell myself. It was boring, simple, and stuck.

That was years ago, though.

Now I see the beauty in the same place I couldn’t wait to leave. It’s slower, but it’s growing fast. Those random farm fields I used to drive past every day are turning into shopping centers, new neighborhoods, schools, whole new towns.

And yet so much of what I remember is still here. The long, winding, tree-lined back roads. The handful of mom and pop restaurants that somehow withstood the test of time. The slower pace. The closeness to the people who matter.

Picking up your whole life and moving is scary. But there’s something about moving back to somewhere familiar that takes a little of the fear out of it while keeping all of the excitement. This isn’t the same town I left more than 10 years ago. The core of it, though, is still very much intact.

Here’s to new beginnings, especially the ones that happen in familiar places.