You Can Go Home Again - It Just Might Not Look the Same When You Get There

As I leave Florida today, I’m reflecting on the time I spent here from eighth grade through law school (1979-1990). I visited the house I lived in and while my home looks relatively the same, the community of Coral Springs has changed significantly. It used to have a small town feel to it. There was a mall, a diner named Wags and a few other restaurants. Today, there is a Home Depot, Olive Garden, Chilis and Benihana, along with every type of chain in between that I’ve seen in almost every town across the country to date. You’re never too far from a Walmart Supercenter or a Target in the United States. These chains have changed the character of our country. Some will call it progress. I’m not so sure.

I stopped by the two high schools I attended, Coral Springs High School and the school I graduated from, J.P. Taravella. They are now barricaded up with what looks like metal detectors to pass through as the students enter. I understand the need for all of this, but I wonder, who have we become?

I left Coral Springs in a pensive mood, doubting I would ever come back to this place I no longer recognized. The young woman formed here has moved on and this no longer feels familiar.

I had an incredible time visiting the surrounding flora and fauna that is still preserved in the National Parks in and around this beautiful state. But most of all, I was thrilled to see so many good friends from that period of my life (Samantha Ward, Maria Charles and Beth Klein who showed me such hospitality during my visit. I am so grateful to them). It is these reunions I will remember most, along with the colors of the sea, the incredible array of birds, the sawgrass and mangroves, the Keys and the cumulonimbus clouds billowing into the sky.