A few weeks ago, CBS introduced the show Scorpion (Mondays 9pm EST on CBS). It's loosely based on the life of Walter O'Brien. The premise is that it's a team of super intelligent people. They refer to themselves as being "enabled". They use their skills to help the government solve problems. But one message has been carried throughout the series so far..............everybody belongs somewhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_O%27Brien
episode 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t93H2hDa-64
In the first episode, they introduce a waitress named Paige with an enabled son. He's like a young Walter. Paige helps them save lives and Walter adds her to the team when the Government Agent handling them offers them jobs. She helps them understand regular people and proper behavior, they help her understand her son.
Her son hates school, as they all did. But he belongs with this group. They all belong together. It's the only place they all feel comfortable as themselves. They understand each other better then anyone else. Walter has chosen his team well. Because this is where they all belong.
episode 3: "A Cyclone" They all belong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO35_rmarzI
That's true for all of us. We all belong somewhere. Yesterday, I was at my parent's house in the front yard. A police officer drove by and waved. The same police officer who gave me my first ticket when I was 17. He is very nice but strict. I respect him. He very well may have literally waved to me from the same place one of his co-workers did. When I was learning to drive, a Police Officer in town lived up the street. It was a different street but his house was at the cross section of the T between his street and mine. He saw my Dad teaching me how to parallel park and joked that he was "putting the pressure on". I got my license on my 17th Birthday. My car was parked yesterday in the same spot I had been practicing parallel parking in all of those years ago.
I talk a lot about this town. It's where I belong. It's where I feel whole. I spent two years in college in South Carolina and the other two and a half in Pennsylvania. I liked both places, but I didn't belong in either. I need that comfort of those most important 13 years of my life to cope with the stress that comes along with adulthood. I need these memories and familiar people and places to help control my anxiety.
I'm lucky. Not everyone feels like they belong in the place they grew up. Some don't even feel like they belong with their families. But we all belong somewhere. You just have to find the place that's just right. You have to find that place where you belong. Even if that's with your group of best friends at a favorite hang out.
Because THAT'S the place where you can handle stress best. THAT'S the place with the people you love. THAT'S that place where you feel safe. THAT'S the place where you think the clearest. THAT'S the place where you are the most relaxed. THAT'S the place with the people who care about you most. And THAT'S the place with the people who understand you.
There are so many people from this town that find their way back here. It's a special place. It's the kind of place they try to create in TV shows and movies. But you can't duplicate it. It's not perfect here. Bad things do happen here. Just not as much. So many of us come back because this is where we belong. The property taxes are high here. It's only worth the expense if your heart belong here. If your heart belongs, you belong.
While waiting for the door to open this morning Zach was chatting with every other Kindergartener also waiting for the doors to open at 8:15 (school starts at 8:30). As new Kindergarteners arrived, they joined the group. Of course that amount to five kids total. Some are in the other Kindergarten class. Josh and I smiled at each other. Zach loves this town. It has all of his grandparents and his home. It has most of his friends too. It has a fantastic park where he regularly runs into friends from Kindergarten and Preschool. And it has familiar faces on a family walk.
That includes the only other kid in his Preschool class from Verona. On Sunday we were taking a walk and saw him and his siblings playing in their front yard. We have passed that house many times. We didn't know that's where he lives. They had an impromptu play date while we talked with his Dad. This town is where Zach belongs too.
If you know where you belong, I am happy for you. It makes life a lot easier. Where you belong might not be where you live. But it's somewhere. I hope those who don't feel like they belong anywhere find the place where they do belong. Because everybody belongs somewhere.
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