I have been thinking of leaving New York for a while now. I want to retire someplace else. I envision a place where the pace is slower and the people are friendly, and that offers that small-town feel. I think I have found that place.
I have been visiting New Hampshire for the past couple of years with a friend of mine. I have enjoyed the small-town vibe I feel when I am there. We go to a diner for breakfast from time to time, and I enjoy just watching the people interact. The oil delivery men will step out of their trucks looking like they have battled the cold winter morning for hours already. They are burly looking and searching for a hearty breakfast. They are also gentle giants. It shows when they hold the door open for the elderly couple who are entering the diner as well. The waitresses who have been there since the place opened seem to know everyone on a first-name basis. They stop by each table with the specials of the day. You are served a home-cooked meal with a smile, a please and a thank you. Customers at each table are having conversations. No cell phones attached to their ears or even lying on the table.
As we drive into town to window shop down Main Street, I enjoy what I see. There are parents with their little ones entering the local book store for a special find for the day. The cashier at the food co-op wants to make sure I have found everything I was looking for. If not, they will order anything I need. Later we go out for dinner, and I enjoy the pleasurable conversation with the waitress. She is more than happy to tell me how much she loves living in Concord and how walkable downtown would be for me.
I wonder what is so inviting about this place. I realize it reminds me of where I grew up. People are engaging with one another. There are hardly any distractions from enjoying each other’s company. I hear the echoes of please and thank you from strangers. I receive nods and smiles from locals on the street. But most important, it feels like home.
LORRAINE KING
Brooklyn, N.Y.