Hi everyone,
I am with my family right in Iowa right now. I arrived Friday morning to a rainy Quad Cities. Luckily, I brought my rain boots and the hunger to have all of the foods I can’t find in NYC.
To get to Muscatine, Iowa, you need to take two flights. One from any of the three NYC airports and then a connecting flight from Chicago to the QCA. My parents and I always fly out of Moline’s airport because of its short drive from Muscatine—30 minutes.
Before taking the very short flight from Chicago to Moline, though, I decided to spend a night in the Windy City. I still have many friends there from my early college days and all of the shops I used to frequent. The Gold Coast definitely knows my name. A happy surprise was waiting for me while I waited to deplane the plane in Chicago. I ran into some Muscatine locals.
My friends Krista and Kim were waiting to board a Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo. When I asked them why they are going to Tokyo, they told me that they were going to expand the Muscatine sister city program. Muscatine has a sister city in Japan already, but it has been years since any group has made the long journey east. The Muscatine orchestra program used to go every year before the pandemic. It was one of those trips where anybody with an instrument and a passion for Japanese culture was invited. The trips quickly became a staple of many higschooler’s educational experiences.
I spoke with Krista for a while about my life in NYC. I told her about this year being my last year of undergrad and how I felt the role of a journalist was changing. She then asked the big question.
“What do you want to do after school?”
I kind of let out a sigh before offering up an answer that felt partially true.
“I am still figuring it out but I am thinking about writing for a magazine.”
She laughed at my reply before gently squeezing my arm and saying
“Oh, I thought you were going to say you wanted to come back to Muscatine, get married, and raise your ten kids there.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I laughed along.
Kim then chimed in
“I was seriously thinking you were going to come back to work with Krista at the Stanley Center.”
Before I could even mutter a reply, Krista said “Oh no, I think he’s way past us.”
I’ve heard from several groups that the idea of me coming back to Muscatine has come up in discussion. Apparently, it is a topic the people of Muscatine love to debate. Will Tyler come back or will he stay in NYC? Krista has had this conversation with my good friend, Heidi Kuo, too. I find it almost endearing that there’s an entire group of individuals who not only wonder about my whereabouts, but also my achievements. I do think they care about my success but they are also fascinated by my lifestyle. I am apart of a group made up of less than five people who have moved from Muscatine to NYC. For a town of only 23,000 residents, it is hyper connected to the outside world. I could be anywhere and somehow, someway, the people in Muscatine will be there to offer their opinions and loving support.
TJL