Because I didn’t hate it.
I had fully intended to hate it. I had prepared to hate it. I had a list.
Instead I liked the neighborhoods. I liked that there were sidewalks and people on them. I liked the parks. I liked a bakery two blocks from our hotel enough that I went back both mornings.
And That Scared Me
Because if I liked it too, then Oregon was never the problem.
The way Ben had chosen it without me was the problem.
Which meant I couldn’t hide behind geography. I was going to have to actually say the harder thing out loud.
He Caught Me Watching
Families crossing at a light with strollers and soccer bags and a dog.
“You like it.”
“I like that people seem to walk places.”
“That’s progress.”
“Don’t ruin it.”
Dinner With His Future Colleagues
That evening we had dinner with four people he’d be working with. A surgeon named Priyanka, two others, and the department head.
