South Boston, better known as Southie, is a neighborhood thriving on character and pride. It is hard to walk down any street without seeing some symbol of the local’s love for the green homeland across the Atlantic. There is always a shamrock dangling on a front door, or a cloth of white orange and green pinned atop a rickety window sill of a third floor apartment. Corner stores and mom and pop shops dot the alphabetically named streets flashing names like Sullivan’s and Murphey’s.
Southie is a real community; it is tight and it is loyal. It is ever changing but the roots are planted and those original fixtures make Southie the place-to-be for new young business people and movie sets a like. There is something about the culture in South Boston that is refreshing. The people are somewhat untouched, and display a no fuss attitude with a light hearted twist; like the lady I see in the morning at Ethel and Andy’s, the corner store below my house. She comes in each day, her voice an octave lower than the day before, it seems the advancing smoking bans will never apply to her. She wears over sized dark sweats and is less than pulled together, her hair plopped on the top of her head, as she orders the coffee that seems to be what will get her through the next 3 hours. But despite her rough appearance, her clever smile and kind "how ahh ya?" are endearing, her genuine approach passively shakes you up and puts you at ease; for a moment no one has anything to prove. She converses not to gain anything, not because she wants to be liked, frankly I think she could care less, she does it from her heart with no strings attached. And each morning, as he grills a greasy egg and cheese for the detail cop on the corner, Andy sends me off with a , "sweethaaat, you have a good day now hun! " and my day begins with a fresh start.
This town with its raw beauty has become my newest and most permanent home to date. My best friend who has become my, seemingly permanent roommate (three years and counting), moved onto K Street where our names Katie and Kristie are perfectly fitting on our new little black mail box. We are becoming part of a neighborhood, in the middle of a beautifully busy city, where we are situated just a mile from the beach; what more could we ask for?! Looks like the luck of the Irish might just be with me once again.
1 comment:
Kristie! We miss you so much here in Madrid, but I'm glad to see you're adapting well to life at Suffolk Boston. Thanks for such well written prose as you update us on your transition; I thoroughly enjoy living the experiences "through your eyes" (such a great title!). And you couldn't have picked a better street! Abrazos to you and Katie from EspaƱa, Tom (SUMC)
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