I appreciate the town where I grew up. I had a great childhood and have many fond memories, but it was pretty homogeneous. As a matter of fact, the most pronounced minority in the town was Catholics, of which I was one! Funny, isn’t it?
When I grew up, I told myself that I’d raise my children in a town where there would be more variety. As I learned more about Fairfield, I realized that the variety that I sought was here. We have a strong Catholic community. We have a Protestant community whose roots can be traced to original settlers in the 1600s. There is a strong Jewish community here as well. Is there a strong Hindu or Islamic community here in Fairfield? Not yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me if, in time, this happens and, you know what? I think that would be pretty neat. You know what else? I think plenty of people here in Fairfield would agree with me. Why? I THINK it’s one reason why we move here. Ok, it’s Fairfield County. I can hear some people snickering at me for talking about diversity and Fairfield County at the same time, but, in the scheme of things, we have it here!
A couple of weeks ago, there was a Menorah lighting in the center of town. During the Menorah lighting, some not so brazen whatever you wish to call them stood fairly far away holding Nazi flags and yelling at the crowd. Because they were so proud of themselves, they wore masks. They also stood pretty far away so they had to yell fairly loud. The situation caused a stir, but here’s the good part. The town came together. Subsequent Menorah lightings were well attended by Jews and Gentiles, united against hate, the light that the holiday represents bringing new meaning to all of us.
I wonder how many conversations about faith and respect began that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have this undesireable event come up? Because we live in a town of more diversity, these issues come up from time to time. We must confront them. We must talk about them. We must take the time to understand each other a little better. Nobody said it would always be easy, and it can even get us out of the comfort zone that we seek here in ‘suburbia,’ but I believe it’s just another great thing we get when we decide to buy a home here.
Real Estate, Hopes and Dreams
I moved to Fairfield because I wanted to live in a nice town where everybody isn’t the same. I got it here, and it’s one of the things I love about working as a Realtor in town.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
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