How I Landed Back in New Jersey

The Story on How I Landed Back in Jersey: How I'm learning to make my place and my home Back in Jersey as I head into a new decade of my life. 

I grew up in South Jersey; Cumberland County to be exact. Following high school I didn't stray far. I spent my first 4 years of college at Richard Stockton College of NJ (now, Stockton University). During my days at Stockton I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in the Walt Disney World College Program in sunny Florida, giving me an opportunity for the first time in my 20 years on earth to live outside of New Jersey for longer than a week long vacation. 

Not surprising, while working at Walt Disney World I was bitten by hospitality bug, which lead me to transfer (and by transfer I mean graduate from Stockton with my first, yes, first Bachelor Degrees) to the University of Delaware where I was accepted into their Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management program. After graduating from UD with degree #2, I stayed in Delaware for a couple of years, followed by a few more years living in the DC Metro area, before making the move back to Delaware in my mid-20s. I proceeded to spend the next almost 13 years in Delaware. Delaware became my home and I never thought I'd live anywhere else (unless of course it meant moving down south so I could bask in the sunshine all year round). Yet somehow, even though I never thought I'd leave my comfortable bubble of Delaware, I found a reason to make my way back home.

Sometimes an unexpected event leads to an even more unexpected change and even more of an unexpected decision. This is how I found myself Back in Jersey after nearly 17 years away.

As we (the other part of we is Eric, the boyfriend of a million and one years) were visiting Niagara Falls during a trip to upstate New York for our friends Kathleen and Taylor's wedding in Rochester, we pulled into our parking spot to return my mother's multiple missed calls. This was when I heard the most unexpected news: my grandmother, my Mimi, had passed away.

As reality of this news settled and the conversation turned to moving forward with taking care of Mimi's home, I found myself completely unexpectedly thinking about the history of my grandmother's house and what it would mean for that history to stop now that she was gone. I began to think about the fact that not only did my dad grow up in this house, but my grandfather was born and raised in this house along with his brothers and sisters. The more we talked to my dad about the family history within the house, the more I realized that the house needed to stay in the family. I honestly never thought I'd say I lived in New Jersey again, yet here I was, and her I am, knowing that this is home again and exactly it's where I should be.  Family, tradition and a giant tug on your heartstrings will do that to you, and that's what brought me back to the place I called home for nearly half my life. 

Here I am, sitting in the house I knew for a majority of my life as my grandparents' house. From the first night I slept in this house, I knew I am where I'm supposed to be, and New Jersey is my home once again. 

Now I have an opportunity to explore my former and current home state to see what I've been missing all this time. I get the chance to explore beyond the borders of New Jersey in areas I may now have reached when living a little further south. All the while finding new hidden gems, secret spots, and sights that will leave me in awe. 

I'm excited to home and can't wait to reaquaint myself now that I'm Back in Jersey.