Virginia is for Courting
Photo by: Stephen Poore
Dear VA,
I’ve been reminiscing about how we came to be since it is a time of devoted reflection. Do you remember when I met you in 1986. We didn’t hit it off right away. You tempted me with beautiful scenery and a good school, but you also had these weird phrases and your cooking was terrible! I was forced to be with you and so we did not begin in the best of times.
I finally got rid of you after so many on and off again romances. In 2005, I decided our toxic relationship would offer me nothing but a warm barstool and another dead end job, so I ended it and left you for good (or so I thought). For five years I put you behind me, but we still had a connection that my love affair with New York could not fulfill. The fates had other plans for us and as New York left me cold and abandoned, I sought refuge in your arms.
It took me about a year to feel comfortable within you, but as I acclimated with old friends and familiar surroundings, it was your new personality that began to woo me. You had new people in your life from bigger cities like NYC, Dallas, and Los Angeles. You were wearing new clothes shedding the Commonwealth khakis of old. You showed me what it was to discover new territory with parks and landmarks I hadn’t visited before. And then, you gave me great joy satiating my appetite with culinary delights and beer, lots and lots of beer. You started building boutique hotels and gave my friends success in new buildings and businesses. You brought song back into my life with new local musicians and venues and gave me new haunts to meet new people and visit old ones. All the things I hated about you before, you replaced with charm, nostalgia, and hope, but most of all you gave me a new love.
Our union has grown a lot since reluctantly returning to your border 10 years ago, and I am now quite proudly crossing your bridges, strolling your landscape, and seeing you for the first time. It has given me much joy residing in your beautiful city of RVA and providing diverse neighborhoods, thriving communities, and cool things to do. I think you and I have a great future ahead of us…now if you could only stop with the roundabouts, segregated classes, and people obsessed with the Confederacy, you and I can finally ride off into the sunset.
xoxo,
Lady J