Happy Friday, Everyone!!
Jennifer DeCuir has stopped by today to talk about her new book, Trapped in Tourist Town. This warm, charming story appears to have come from something very personal in Jennifer's life.
I'm going to turn this post over to Jennifer and allow her tell you about her lovely, heartbreaking--and heartwarming story of growing up in a small town on the coast of Maine.
Jennifer, it was such a pleasure to have you here today. My blog is all yours...
Trapped in tourist town. Yep, that was me a loooooooooong time ago. I grew up in a small town on the coast of Maine. The only time it got mildly exciting was in the summer, when the tourists invaded – interested in our beaches, the storefronts on the water, the amusement park and zoo and the highlight of our town, Nubble lighthouse. But come Labor Day, it was back to the same old, same old. All of the fun stuff closed down until Memorial Day. Everyone knew each other. No one did anything noteworthy.
Jennifer DeCuir has stopped by today to talk about her new book, Trapped in Tourist Town. This warm, charming story appears to have come from something very personal in Jennifer's life.
I'm going to turn this post over to Jennifer and allow her tell you about her lovely, heartbreaking--and heartwarming story of growing up in a small town on the coast of Maine.
Jennifer, it was such a pleasure to have you here today. My blog is all yours...
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| Jennifer DeCuir |
So when I was 24, I packed my car with as much as it could hold (including my cat), sent the rest on and drove across the country to my then-boyfriend in Los Angeles. Oh, did I think I was something else! I would call home daily with reports on celebrity sightings, the new places I’d visited (“Mom, I am standing on Hollywood and Vine!) and the amazing things completely unheard of back home, like HOV lanes, the zillion fast food restaurant choices and the Bougainvillea trees everywhere.
I settled in quickly, learning the ropes in this new and thrilling city. But it wasn’t long before my perfect new life started showing its cracks. We picked out a Christmas tree in shorts. That should have been so fun, but it just seemed…wrong. I missed the snow. I missed my family. I missed my town. My first birthday away from home was spent on Catalina Island. How cool was that?
Except that my family wasn’t there to spend it with me and it was…lacking.
Except that my family wasn’t there to spend it with me and it was…lacking.
I married my LA native and we eventually moved to San Diego, where we started a family. Less smog, less heat, it was a gorgeous place to live. More importantly, we were now closer to the water, something I didn’t even realize was so important to me. But it wasn’t home.
We would visit my hometown to see my parents and my sisters. I’d show my husband and my daughter the places I hung out when I was growing up. We did all the things that tourists do – because that’s what we were, tourists. I may have been raised in that town, but I no longer felt that spiritual connection to the place that raised me.
My parents have since passed away. My sisters and I sold their house, the place we always stayed in while visiting. I feel like I lost the last little piece that tied me to that town. I haven’t been back in six years. I keep in touch. I gobble up pictures that anyone posts on FB voraciously. I can’t get enough of the place. But I can’t go back. It’s too awkward. Too sad. The time I spent there is a memory, another life entirely. But it was a good life and I will always remember it fondly.
Amazon|Barnes and Noble|CrimsonRomance
Other Jennifer DeCuir Books
Drawn to Jonah Amazon|Barnes and Noble|CrimsonRomance
Five of Hearts Amazon|Barnes and Noble|CrimsonRomance
Wynter’s Journey Amazon|Barnes and Noble|CrimsonRomanceFive of Hearts Amazon|Barnes and Noble|CrimsonRomance
Jennifer DeCuir Social Media Links:
Thanks for allowing me to explore my heart and share it with your readers, Nancy. Funny how that happens. You just start writing a guest blog and then you're learning all kinds of things about yourself that you never realized meant so much. All the best with your own writing and your beautiful blog. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was my pleasure, Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteI'm from a small town in south Texas. In high school, all I wanted was to move NORTH. Since then, I have lived overseas and in one of the most congested area in the country. But if asked where I'm from, I say Texas. You never really know how good the grass is you're walking on until you walk on other grass. My new saying...LOL! I wish you all the very best in sales. I hope this book hits The List. Hugs!