I wasn't born in LaPorte, and my family didn't live there. I moved there in the summer of 1984, when I was almost 10 and ready to start the fifth grade. Naturally, like any kid, I hated the idea of moving to a new school, away from my family and friends. But, my dad got a better job there (the job he later retired from some 20 years later) and we had to go. At first, I hated every single thing about LaPorte. I hated the smell (a unique combination only experiencing can do justice), I hated the apartments we had to live in while our house was being built (they hated children, and we weren't allowed to make ANY noises), and I hated even its name. My sister and I called it "La Port-a-Potty," a description that was not far off, as far as the smell was sometimes concerned. But, move we did, and though it was hard adjusting to a new city, a new house, new friends, and a new school. La Port-a-Potty grew on all of us. So much so that my parents still live there, and it is still, after more than 15 years of living elsewhere, what I refer to as home.
Next weekend, I'm going back to my "city on the bay," to see some friends I have seen little or not at all in that fifteen years I've been away, for various reasons. My heart is full just thinking of heading back to the place that put me in such a tizzy almost 25 years ago. Sure, I've been back to visit before, but for some reason this time is different. This time I really feel like I am returning home instead of visiting; this time I feel like I want to be there, on my city by the bay.
When the lights
Go down
in the city
And the sun shines on the bay
Ooh, I wanna be there
in my city by the bay
Oh, oh, oh
So you think you're lonely
Well, my friend, I'm lonely too
I wanna get back
to my city by the bay
Oh, oh, oh
It's sad, oh
There's been mornings
Out on the road
Without you
Without your charms
Oh, oh, my, my, my
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