The Constitution State

I have been a resident of Connecticut for almost five years. I still have a hard time telling people that. It isn't that I don't like the community in which I live or that I don't see myself settling permanently here in the future, it is just that it is well. . . Connecticut. It seems to be just a halfway point between New York and Boston, a collection of towns with hedge fund money and closets full of pastels and popped collars.

When travelling my husband still tells people he is from New York. When I tell people I am from Connecticut the word sounds foreign coming from my lips (it is actually based on Mohegan and Algonquin Indian words for a "place beside a long river"). Granted we live in essentially a suburb of New York City and the fact that we are a quick train ride away and the actual New York border is like 7 miles from here, does a lot to ease my mind.

This week though, I am proud to be from Connecticut because here we welcome everyone. It is now legal for Gays and Lesbians to marry in the Constitution State. We join our neighbors in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in recognizing same sex marriage as legal. I say if you want to get married--get married. I mean marriage isn't always easy and why should anybody be denied the opportunity to argue over cleaning the bathroom and what is for dinner while at the same time having access to health benefits and the knowledge that their relationship is seen as equal to heterosexual couples in the eyes of the law?

So, even though I still miss my New York State License I am glad to be living in a State that allows people to live and love how and who they want.

A few little known CT facts:

Connecticut never ratified the 18th Amendment (Prohibition). However you cannot buy beers here after 9 p.m. and you can't buy them on Sunday. This is kind of hard sometimes considering I spent my teen years buying beers at gas stations.

The Scoville Memorial Library is the United States oldest public library. Yeah--we like reading.

Connecticut is home to the first hamburger (1895), Polaroid camera (1934), helicopter (1939), and color television (1948). What would we do without color TV?

PEZ® Candy is made in the city of Orange. Who doesn't love the chalky taste of PEZ in their mouth?

The Wiffle Ball factory is in Shelton, CT. I think everyone owes a bit of thanks for this particular invention. Childhood would not be the same without the wiffle ball.

There is a town in CT called Mianus. Yes, Mianus, and a car dealership called Karl's that has a sign on 95 that says "Hummer by Karl."

I am learning to love this State a little bit more everyday.