Fredericksburg

I wish I knew where I will be in the next five years. I am hoping out of Fredericksburg and on with my life. But alas, we never know what the future lays out for us. Not that I do not like Fredericksburg, on the contrary, it is a wonderful city that has the comforts of Small Town America with the conveniences of a city bigger than what it really is. I've never really talked much about Fred before but I'm going to talk about her now. I've lived in Fredericksburg now for 24 years, and in the Fredericksburg Area for 28. In this time I've seen her grow up right along side me. When I moved into the city when I was 6 years old, Route 3 was not the big commercial trap that it is now. In fact there was nothing but farms, the "brand new" Spotsy Mall, and Shannon Greene Golf Course. People actually shopped downtown. The hospital was across from the high school, The old high school was there and was just finished with its final expansion. Walker-Grant was still the old school near Hazel Hill and Mayfield.

But this city has grown. We've seen three schools built, New Walker-Grant, Lafeyette Upper Elementary, and the Brand new James Monroe High School. Shannon Greene was bought underneath trustee's noses and in came the thing that city residents complain the most about and yet is the one thing that has kept our city afloat, and that is Central Park. We've seen Mary Washington Hospital go from being this old, worn down, beat up looking medical facility into a world-class medical campus with multiple clinics and offices surrounding the aesticically pleasing, technologically-advanced main facility. We've seen Route 3 go from being just another rural road in Fredericksburg into the commercial and residential nerve center of our city and area.

I love this city and if I can stay in the area, I probably will. But if turns out that I am to move on to other areas of the country or world for that matter, I'm ready, but I will always hold a special place in my mind and in my heart for my adopted home and the place I've lived in for the majority of my life.

Link of the day: Fredericksburg.com is a site created and maintained by the local newspaper here, The Free Lance Star. I figured it is a good site given the theme for this post :)