Just thinking of the places I've called home or frequented due to schooling and/or work; and I've come to realize the random things I've seen & experienced at these funky locations.
Hayward: This is my home between my mom, dad & grandma someone has always lived in 1 of the 2 houses I was raised. So Hayward will always be home fun fact all the years there I never made a friend in the town & of my years of schooling only the first grade was experienced in that town.
Oakland: Born here...I think can't be certain one of the perils of being adopted...often say it is my hometown as most people meet you with a blank stair when you say your hometown is Hayward. Graduated from high school in this city. 4 total years of schooling in the town, kindergarten & sophomore through senior years.
Concord: City I've spent the most time in due to all the years of school; Thanks to my parents need to send me to "top notch" yet affordable private schools. Yes in my heart I'm definitely a Concord kid a Concordian-youth if you will. Funny thing about that though is the fact I never actually lived in the city of concord. In all honesty I barely spent any time as a Contra Costa county resident. Yes my concord days are due to my years at Kings Valley christan school (2nd-5th grade), Tabernacle baptist school (6th-8th grade), De La Salle high school (9th grade) & my first job ever Waterworld USA. Lots of good times & great memories were had & made in this city.
Antioch: The sight of the end of my parents marriage and the couple of years that followed where it felt like it was just me & my mom.
San Francisco: Simply put the best city in my little world. Place where true friendships were formed. Place where I came to know who I truly am. Place where I found out the most about myself & most notably the place I have been forever struggling to get back to. Yes I truly love the city that defines my beloved Bay Area to bad I had to leave it to truly appreciate what it had given me.
San Mateo: Not much to say home to my favorite job that supplied me with the best material for my comedic stories. Everyday at Safeway brought another chance to laugh at life be it old people and their narrow world views, insane co-workers and the maddening tests they put you through or the doomed relationships that never had a chance for survival from the beginning.
Las Vegas: Sin city is the ultimate understatement for this city. I moved here to find myself after SF started feeling stale. Biggest mistake of my life, but strangely in the end it proved to be my best move. After a year of slutting around I found the person who completes me on this city so it wasn't all bad and in fact was a beneficial move in the grand scheme of things. Fun fact... After years of being a borderline alcoholic in SF I never had a drop of alcohol after my first week in Vegas & remain sober to this day.
Stockton: oh yes my current stomping ground better known as SUCKtown. I hate just about everything you can hate about a city, though I know it's nothing personal. My biggest problem with this city is the fact it isn't some place else. It's to far from SF to be easily accessible & its dinky airport only fly to vegas reminding me of what could have been if I had known the life lessons I've learned here while I was there.
Yes all the cities that have defined my life may not amount to much to you world travelers or to any non bay area people for the most part, but these are the places I hold in my heart because they are what had shaped my life to this point for better or worse. No idea how many more shall be added to the list before I depart this earth, but as for now I'm happy with what I've got.
a look inside the mind of D
