When Amy and I were planning to get married and start a life together, we both worked in West Philadelphia, her at the hospital on the Penn campus and me at The Enterprise Center at 46th and Market. In an act that will fascinate today's young people, I think I literally took out a paper map of the area and a protractor and drew two circles, one around each of our workplaces. The area where the circles intersected represented our desired location to live.
Since we had an inkling we'd be at our jobs for a bit, we decided buying was better than renting, a decision we're forever grateful we made. To further our luck, I'd heard about a new neighborhood elementary school being built in the area, which Penn would support financially and in other ways. Though we were several years from having kids, I had a sense that perk would be nice to have.
It sure has been. We knew we wanted kids but couldn't have predicted how things would play out. But here we are, 20+ years later, loving our neighborhood and thankful for our neighborhood school, Penn Alexander. Due to the big age gap between our youngest two kids, we will literally have a kid at this school for 20 years straight, as Jada's kindergarten year was 2010 and Asher's 8th grade year will be 2029.
So we are in Year 13 of that stretch, and over the moon for our school community, which since it is a neighborhood-serving school also means it's our residential community. So whether on school grounds or out and about in the neighborhood, we are able to see the same people and form meaningful relationships. What a blessing, as has been the incredible teachers and administrators our kids have been fortunate to learn from and we've been fortunate to get to know. School is so important, as a parent and in a community. And we couldn't have asked for more than what we've been able to enjoy for 13 years and counting.
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