What Makes Austin Unique To Me

Since I can remember, I think of the summer days when I was little waking up to the birds singing outside my window, jumping out of bed to go see if my brother was awake, and a short time later dancing around in the kitchen while my parents made breakfast and my brother blared music. I remember being impatient while waiting for my dad to get ready to take my brother and me to the pool. And I remember having fun with my family each day with something a little different.

There was something for me to do every summer day. We had the sparkling blue waters of the lake, and animal preserves and the zoo, which helped me create my love for animals.

The concerts too! I can remember most of the summer nights when I was trying to fall asleep; I could hear music from the concerts in Zilker Park trying to get in through the window. They would either soothe me to sleep or keep me up all night.

The bats. When I was 4-8 years old we would walk under the "Bat Bridge," and, when I was a bit older, we would watch them come out of from under the bridge and fly over the water. It was so beautiful!

The weirdness. The people in Austin are not afraid to be weird, and you can walk around with your hair any color you want! No one will judge you. You are free to be yourself.

When the leaves started to fall off the trees, I remember the days when my family and I worked in the yard raking them up, having a big pile and jumping in it, and laying in it with my brother while my mom and dad covered us up. Then my mom took a video of my dad talking to the camera saying "Where are the kids? They were just helping me in the yard. Where did they go?” Then jumping up out of the pile, we scared him and laughed so hard as we watched the video over and over again.

After the long but fun winter days, my family was ready for spring to come. Every day in the spring on our drive to school, I remember my brother and me sticking our heads out the window each day hoping to see a speck of blue painted against the hills of green. Then the day came when we got in the car, and we would see millions of little blue dots painted on the hills, with all of the other wildflowers too. It’s amazing that the flowers had somehow managed to fight their way up through the masses of grass to bring joy and color to us. Sprouting up and standing tall honoring their hero, Lady Bird Johnson.

Although I loved my city of Austin, I was 12 at the time and I had no decision on where we were living. So my parents decided to relocate my family to Houston.

Before I was the happiest little girl in Austin with my family, I didn’t want change to come. Well, change came, we moved. No matter what, Austin is my home and will always be. No matter where I move, or who I become, it will always be there for me. No matter what the people in the city that I currently live in say, I was and will be stubborn, fighting for what I think is right. Because no matter the argument they bring up to prove that their city is my home, there will be one response: No, Austin will always be my home.

Sofi Savarese is a student at St. Catherine's Montessori.

Posted January 20, 2018

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