It's easy to characterize a period in our lives by the places we live, the people we love. We grow up there, we love, we hate, there's tears and laughter. Sentimentality is always a companion once we leave a certain place or person. Or we can become the "other" when we find those places that we can only inhabit for momentary weekends, sliding through the streets like secretive mistresses.
But it's the long term love affairs that mold us.
Sometimes we find a love/hate relationship. There's positive and negative things about all the places we inhabit. But the difference comes with absence.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
That is the test of love. I once met a lighting designer. Recently divorced, and happy about it, he looked like a lone outlaw. He was good at what he did and loved his job. He had been married five times. In casual conversation a question was asked, "How do you know if love is true? That love will last?" To which was replied, "When you miss all the little things that annoyed you."
Those nagging things, the stuff that makes you roll your eyes, that is the true test. If you leave and miss the little things that used to drive you crazy then you know that you honestly love that place and or person.
Personally, I can't speak to the person side, but as for places, like Calaveras County, like Los Angeles, they have the potential for a life long love affair, a potential for a million new beginnings, and a million new annoyances. C'est la vie.
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