You’re Not From Around Here
I have always been envious of people who take the floor at town meeting, announce that they are a native, and flash their birth certificate as if it were currency. In a strange way it is.
It might be that being born in a Massachusets town and being a lifelong resident does make one special, like a Quaker or a saint. And, if you can trace your roots back 13 generations to one of the original proprietors– that is your Ace-in-the-hole.
Don’t ever start an argument with a Mayflower descendant, especially one who lives in Plymouth. They seem to have amnesia about their ancestors stealing corn from the Wampanoag in Truro.
I will concede that being a native might make one a bit wiser for knowing where all the bodies are buried, for instance, what finance committee member was not asked to the prom by a selectman in 1972, but does it negate the enthusiasm and energy of someone who chose that town as his home?
Yes.
I just missed being born on a small island to the east of Martha’s Vineyard, when my mother took a trip off-island – in the middle of July no less – to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where I was born.
Being born in Poughkeepsie does not have much cache on the Island or any other town in Massachusetts.
Sadly, I doubt it matters much to the residents of Poughkeepsie that I heartily hail from there.
I console myself that I did marry a man born in the Commonwealth and that our daughters were born on the South Shore.
Yet, I’ve lived in several Massachusetts towns, voting at nearly every town meeting during my adult life and yet I could never take the floor and sway the room to vote along with me because the strength of my argument was buried in the fact that I was a native.
That is the power of birth place in Massachusetts.
Will Shain
7:16 am on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sad commentary, but often true. It's not enough to be native New Englander or that by virtue of having lived other places, the experience you bring to the table is worth something. It's a great discussion stopper. "Why listen to him, he's not from around here. He only moved here 4 years ago." It's reminds me of what an old friend told me. His family was from Maine, but he was born in Connecticut. Despite having lived in Maine for all of his adult life, he said, "I won't be considered a Mainer until after I'm dead. My kids will be just fine, as long as they don't move away."
Peggie
11:23 am on Sunday, January 29, 2012
After 38 years in the town - all I have to say is that I'm from "Dawchester" - that does it!!
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
3:30 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Will, I have a friend from Maine who says of people born in Maine, but whose parents and grandparents are not from there, "A cat can have kittens in the oven, but it does not make them muffins."
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
3:31 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Peggie, At least you can say you are from Dorchester the correct way! 38 years in any town is a long, long time.
Peggie
7:08 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sorry Margaret,
You can take the "kid" out of "Dawchester", but you can't take "Dawchester" out of the kid! It just comes out that way.
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
11:13 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
I love the Dorchester accent! Hang on to it!
Peggie
10:54 am on Monday, January 30, 2012
Can't lose it, Margaret, but it does entertain some people!!
Joseph D Scott
12:49 am on Monday, January 30, 2012
Margaret, I have lived in Plymouth for 35 yrs, grew up in Bawstn. Born at St Margaret's Hospital in Dawchesta, went to St Margaret's School, corner of Dot (Dorchester) Ave and Columbia Road. As a kid, I camped at Ellis Haven in the summer.
Peggie
10:54 am on Monday, January 30, 2012
Joseph,
"Isn't it a small World?" I went to Msgr. Ryan Memorial, the High School of St Margaret's, now called by another name, Blessed something!!! Even after all these years in Plymouth I still recognize people from the "Big City".
Christine Hajjar
2:45 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
I was also born in Dawchesta at the old Mass. Memorial Hospital. Lived near St. Peter's before we moved to Readville across from the old Hemenway Elementary which is now closed,I believe. Moved to a little side street off of Hyde Park Ave. and went to the Elihu Greenwood School before moving to the South Shore in the 60s.
Joseph D Scott
3:02 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
Christine, I was Baptized at St Peter's.....Mass Memorial Hosp.....little hospital...near Edward Everett Square...?...going back a few years....
Christine Hajjar
5:40 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
I was baptized at St. Peter's,as well.
Joseph D Scott
3:05 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
Peggie...2 yrs at St Margarets,,,,6 yrs at St Andrew's in Forest Hills..I grad from high school at Catholic Memorial.....
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
5:24 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
You all should have a Dorchester Club in Plymouth! Did you move to Plymouth for a job, the waterfront or the schools?
Elizabeth Meigs
4:46 pm on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Oh, Margaret, I can relate! I grew up on the Cape and my family's Cape Cod roots have been traced back to 1692, but because I was born while my father was in the service, stationed at Westover AFB in western Mass., I'm still considered a "wash ashore".
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
5:57 pm on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Hi Beth, I knew we had something in common! But, your daughters and grandchildren are native Cape Codders, so you have that going for you!