My "Hometown"

I know I am far from alone in being shocked/heart broken over the Newtown, CT school tragedy. It seems as though these events are becoming all too apart of our world though this one was particularly hard to process. I felt similar to how I felt when the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred as I had a connection to the area it took place in. Gone is the "that would never happen here" mentality as these two specific areas are places that I would feel the safest and most protected.

As I am sure you have noticed, I keep things relatively impersonal and private here at One Preppy Cookie. This blog is more of a creative outlet and less of a journal for me. However sometimes there are personal things that I would like to share with you and today I have a little glimpse into where I am from.

My "hometown" is a mere 14 miles from Newtown. I thought I would share a somewhat recent trip I took there to put in perspective what a special place that part of our country is, though I trust you have already seen that from the acts of kindness and support taking place there over the past 5 days.



Last summer, we paid a visit to my "hometown." Since I lived in 5 states prior to my starting high school, it can sometimes be hard to determine my "hometown." But Roxbury, CT is where I was born and where I lived until I was 6 years old. I had not been back in 25 years and as my mom said, not much had changed.

Here is the first home my parents bought and where I was brought home to from Danbury Hospital. The backyard backs up to a dairy farm and the cows used to occasionally wander up to the back windows.


Next a glimpse of the "town" of Roxbury. Don't look too fast or you will miss it...one gas station, one general store and a small coffee shop all in one place.


Really...that's it!


The church my parents were married in...


The town library...


We ended our trip with a stop at a nursery. I had to smile when I saw all of the zinnias...my dad's favorite cutting flower to grow. Maybe he still loves them from growing up in CT??


I was chatting with a lady at the nursery about the flowers and then wandered away. My mom spoke with her next and mid conversation she said, "LINDA???" And then she turned to me and said, "AMY???" Turns out that she and her son had done playgroup with my mom, brother and I almost 30 years ago. (Remember, she had not seen nor heard from us in 25 years!) It was a serious "small world" discovery and one that can really only happen in places like Roxbury.


We haven't lived anywhere like Roxbury ever since (I don't think many people have.)

My thoughts continue to be with the families and friends of everyone affected in this terrible tragedy. Your courage amazes me.