What would have happened if you never left your hometown?  

That’s a haunting question. In memory, the hometown was idyllic:  five bookstores, two libraries, a Jackson Pollock at the art museum, a gorgeous park with woods, and meadows with cows.

It would have been great if the town hadn’t changed, and if we were still 20 years old.  But “my city is gone,” as  Chrissie Hynde sang about Akron.  Our town has doubled in size.

People now live in the suburbs.  There never used to be suburbs.  God, we all despised the suburbs!  (Was it because of John Updike and Richard Yates?)

But if we had stayed we would not have found a professional job.  There simply were no jobs for liberal arts majors.

Here’s what happened to some of the people who stayed.  The portraits below are VERY loosely based on some of some of the lifers.

Lynn:  unemployed, agorophobic, single, still lives in her late parents’ hourse, and is now a bit like a character in We Always Lived in the Castle.  THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR:  Not a college graduate.

Susan: underemployed, flunky office clerk (slightly reminiscent of Harvey Pekar in his comics), reputed to be a witch and drug addict.  THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR (besides drugs):  Not a college graduate.

Jessie: married, self-employed, underemployed, keen on rock music, critical of the late Tom Petty’s appearance, and knows TV trivia.  I mean all of it.  THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR:  college graduate. 

GWEN:  married, underemployed, book club maven, sociology teacher in a high school.  THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR:  Ph.D. in sociology but no jobs for sociology professors.  

ANNA:  single, employed, former actor, returned to hometown to get M.D., oncologist,  columnist in local paper, and gardener. THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS: B.A. , M.D..

LIZZIE: marital status uncertain, former hippie, banks in the Cayman Islands, reinvented herself as a devout Christian.  THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: no college degree.

So are you nostalgic for your hometown?