Life seems quaint and quiet and calm in the Midwest

Visiting friends and family this week in the Midwest seems to have a different pace than the urban center in which I live. I feel like they enjoy life more and get a lot of satisfaction from a slower pace. I did that for 27 years before I moved to a city in the Southeast, and it's interesting to consider the different vibe. Most have children and are very close to their families. The friends that I spend time with in the Southeast are all transplants from other areas and don't have families in the area. In a way, we are selecting our friends as family because our original families are hundreds of miles away. Of my closest friends, their families are in Illinois, South Carolina, Louisiana, New York, England and mine are in Ohio and Michigan. It is a nice but different connection - we are likely closer because we don't have family to lean on for routine or frequent social engagements. However, it is always fun to visit friends and family back home!

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