Momentary pangs of missing Portland

This afternoon, I was sitting on my couch, talking to my mom on the landline and waiting for the rest of the Fork You team to come over for a planning meeting, when my cell phone rang.  I walked over and picked it up, noticing that the caller id read-out said that it was my dad’s cell phone.  I told my mom who the other caller was as I flipped open the phone to answer it and she laughed, saying, “He must be calling from the family room.  I’m in the computer room.”

I answered and, with a phone on each side of my head, said to him, “Hey Daddy, I’ve got mom in my other ear.”

He laughed and said, “Well then, I’ll just hang up and get on the other phone.”

We stayed on the phone for a little while, soaking up the cross-continental family time.  He told me about the job interview he had today (all signs point to yes) and she told me about the wedding gift (a handmade pottery bowl filled with freshly picked blueberries) she was taking to the party that some family friends were throwing for their recently married son and his new wife.  The groom is a guy I’ve known since I was 9 years old.  We were friends at church for most of our childhoods and so I sighed and said, “I wish I could go too.”

In my head, could see my parents nodding in agreement at that statement, sitting in different rooms of the house.  My mom said after a moment, “Oh honey, I do too.”

I have never for a moment regretted my move to Philadelphia.  I love my life here and things get more interesting and exciting every day.  But occasionally, when my sister has a concert or an old friend gets married or my mom goes blueberry picking in the Columbia Gorge on a beautiful, cool Oregon day, I briefly wonder what I’m doing so damn far away.

0 thoughts on “Momentary pangs of missing Portland

  1. raina rose

    i’m sitting in a coffee shop in bellingham, WA and this kinda makes me miss you guys too 🙂
    i love our family so much.
    how rich are we?
    the richest.

    Reply
  2. Paul

    Makes you wonder at the courage of our ancestors who made the trek across the country 100 years ago, or across an Ocean.

    When I lived in Portland, I could tell myself I’m just a few hours flight from Pennsylvania, or a few days drive.

    Imagine crossing a distance in a time when you really didn’t think you might ever go back the route you came, uncertain of ever seeing those left behind, and no instant communication!

    I often felt Portland isolating, or isolated, compared to Philadelphia or Lancaster, where this always another, bigger city with lots of people just down the road.

    Portland really IS the light on in the great Forest of NW Oregon- driving back into town from Mt Hood or the Coast brought the sense of a return to civilization for me (along with rides on MAX thru the Zoo tunnel to simulate riding the subway!

    Reply

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