02/13/2002

claims

Sometimes I forget that I grew up here in Berkeley. I mean I now live a few miles from the house I grew up in and my dad's been living in the house he's currently in for the last almost-20 years and a lot of my friends here are people I've known since 2nd grade or so but because I've been living on the East Coast for so long California's been, in my head, more of the place I visit as an adult than the place where I spent my babyhood-childhood-adolescence.

But every once in a while I'm reminded. Was on Solano today and saw the guy I had a terrible eighth-grade crush on. We passed each other on the street and I thought he looked familiar couldn't place him then all of a sudden I remembered. God, I haven't seen him in 12 years or so but he looked an older version of the same, couldn't have been anyone but him. I felt like I was 13 again, all that washed over me softly.

That's what I love about California, the history, my history. I live a few blocks from the University housing where mom and I lived while she was in school, I go to school now a mile from where I went to high school. Though I love the East Coast, though I've spent my adult life there, though the East Coast is the home I've chosen, it feels good to know that I can still claim California - and she can still claim me.