Home is where the heart is... well, mostly

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 09 March 2008 09:27:48

I'm back home this weekend for a friend's wedding. Well, when I say "back home" I actually mean "back where I grew up". It hasn't really felt like home for a few years now, and I think this weekend I've been realising why.

For one thing, the place has changed. When I was a kid, it was a nice, friendly village, and maybe it still is, but to me it doesn't feel that way anymore. The enormous (and poorly laid out) Tesco makes it feel more like an out-of-town shopping centre, and I just don't see that same sense of community spirit I remember from back in the day. Of course, this is only based on me coming here for maybe two or three weekends a year, so it may not be that accurate, but that's just how it feels.

The other thing, though, is that I've moved on. One of the things I love about Birmingham is the fact that there's so much there. If you want to go clubbing, go shopping, go to a museum, sit in a park, watch some sport, see a band, go for a pint or numerous other activities, there's somewhere on your doorstep where you can do that. The old village offers little in the way of entertainment (although shopping and drinking are noticable possibilities), and if I were to come back here permanently I would really miss that.

But coming back for a couple of days has been good, especially as I've been able to catch up with some people I haven't really hung out with in years. The wedding itself was great and very personal, with the groom's father (who was assistant minister at the church for a few years) conducting the service in his trademark laidback comical style. It was also the first wedding I've ever been to where the bride and groom played in their own worship band - for the last few songs the pianist was joined by the bride on vocals, the groom on drums, the best man on guitar and the groom's brother / chief usher on bass. After a seemingly endless round of photos (again, taken by a friend who's a keen photographer, rather than a hired-in type) we popped next door for the reception; a small and low-key affair, with all the food provided by people from church and some kindly volunteers serving it all. And the evening do, with another two mates DJing, was really fun too. The whole day just felt like a lovely family get-together - which, after all, is pretty much what a wedding should be.

What I think I've realised, then, is that while I'm never likely to come back and live here, I'm quite looking forward to visiting my friends around these parts. I don't miss the place, but I certainly miss a lot of the people. For me, that's the way community still exists here.