The Older I Get The More I Appreciate Long Island: Opinion

As I tiptoe into my twilight years I have stopped running aimlessly to nowhere. For the last 20 years I have been learning to know what it is to fall in love with the majesty of Long Island. A lifetime can be a long time if it is not spent in a special place — if it does not rainbow you and make you often stop, pause, and appreciate the simple glory of being alive. On Long Island, I thrive.

My story — as are all stories of why folks end up on Long Island — is not unique, nor is the end result. A life filled with love, some disappointment, but so many more wonderful days.

Unlike places like Manhattan, most folks living on Long Island were born on Long Island. For them, they are members of the community that makes up Long Islanders from birth. On the East End, there are families, individuals who trace their heritage back to the mid 1600s. There are not many places in the United States where people can say that.

My 20 years may not stack up with those folks in longevity, but it sure does stack up in appreciation of what the island had to offer — to make me never desire to leave. I did not get monetarily rich, but I have had many rich moments. I believe many understand what I mean. Then, there are others who did get monetarily rich and that’s cool, too, because the island has always been a land of opportunity to make a future, right from when the first settlers landed on Conscience Point, in Southampton in 1648.

I have been called “stupid” more than once in my life, but deciding to stay on Long Island was brilliant. I found love, of course with a Long Island girl, and the content happiness that a strong, long love manifests. But this is not earth-shattering news, this is the reality of so many Long Islanders.

The beaches, the roads, the individual towns, the parks, the malls, the schools, the churches, the final resting places but most of all the homes, are so dear in so many ways. Long Island always has a big sky with a nice brisk breeze for some from the ocean and others from the Long Island Sound. I recall reading the letter of a British officer stationed in East Hampton during the American Revolution writing home to say he regretted having to leave after the war ended. He spoke of how beautiful and simple life was, even during the war.

Almost every Long Islander has a favorite location, a place they go to park, sip a coffee, listen to the radio or check their phones. Many have boats or motorcycles or hot cars, bicycles, surfboards, even private planes to recreate with. Others just enjoy bringing their children or grandchildren to the many parks. The truth is there are a multiple of ways to enjoy oneself on the island.

The last amazing thing to me is that there is a kinship of all Long Islanders that transcends the town and villages lines. It’s so obvious when traveling, Long Islanders find each other at foreign airports and cities. How many times have you asked, when away from home, “So, where are you from on the island?"

Now, as yet another summer is heading my way, as the sand in my lifelong hourglass slowly sifts down to the bottom, I take time to declare how much I appreciate everything Long Island.