Like so many people who grew up in Hamilton, we wanted out. We wanted to escape from 'that ugly steel city on the QEW' so we went off to university in the Big Cities of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, with a chip on our shoulders. Living in Toronto, I braced myself for the thinly veiled disgust/blatant horrification every time I had to tell someone I was from Hamilton. 

After a few years of living on my own in Toronto, my then boyfriend/now husband joined me in our first shared apartment, an overpriced high rise on Bay street. We had grand plans to move back to Hamilton when we were 'grownups'. As 20-somethings in post graduate programs, that seemed like a responsible idea, yet far enough in the undefined future to be realistic. Three years, another apartment, soul sucking jobs/job searches, and the tragic loss of our new puppy jolted us into being those Grown Ups we envisioned and making the move back to Hamilton. 

We quit our jobs, sold or stored our essentials and made our way back to Hamilton, via pit stops in Nepal and Thailand. We moved back in with Matt's parents, then a condo, Matt returned to his job in the City, while I joined my family's business.  While we explored our New Old Home, we found ourselves ready to buy a home in the neighbourhood Matt grew up. One dreary day in October, we found ourselves a perfect little century home. 

So began our new life in an old home in our old city that felt new to us.

Tell me, how did you end up in Hamilton?