Coming to terms with Stoughton

Ever since she got back from Iraq, S/Sgt Jenn has become really nostalgic. Tomorrow Stoughton is playing Canton in the annual powder puff (girls football) game and she somehow convinced me to go. She wanted to drag me along to the pep rally as well but that's pushing it a bit too far I think.

I grew up in Stoughton and like most kids who grew up in mid-sized suburbs, I hated almost every minute of it. I served my four year sentence as a Black Knight, juggling my time between sports, hanging out at Applebee's, and waiting for mom to pick me up at the South Shore Plaza. Before leaving for college the furthest I had ever been in my entire life was Long Island. Like most of my classmates I was a fairly ignorant if not over-confident kid with a thick South Shore accent who was scared shitless of leaving it all behind.

It's been almost 10 years since I walked across the stage to collect my diploma and move on with what I assumed would be the rest of my life. As my father correctly predicted, I managed to lose touch with just about everyone I was associated with for the first 18 years of my life. Since I am local I do manage to run into people every once in a while and I'm always surprised to hear them reflect back on high school with the same passive tone that I often share.


We all somehow managed to survive our childhood in a place called "ToughTown" and 10 years later I am finally ok with that. I am proud of the fact that I grew up hanging out with the children of teachers, doctors, immigrants, and policemen. I'm proud to have grown up in one of the only truly affordable communities south of Boston, making it a magnet for families of every color, race, ethnicity, and social class. The people skills and street smarts I acquired in the halls of the Stoughton public schools simply can't be taught in a classroom.

I've Myspace stalked some of the people from my class and everyone seems to be doing well, which I'm genuinely happy about. People have gone off to get advanced degrees, start families, and serve their country. Some of them still call 02072 home while others turned away and never looked back.

Despite my new Bulldog zipcode, I'll be silently rooting on the Knights with S/Sgt Jen at tomorrow's game. High school during the mid-90's was certainly a confusing time but looking back it really wasn't that traumatic. While I certainly have no desire to move back to Stoughton and spend my Friday nights hanging out at the Town Spa as a full-blooded townie, I'm definitely capable of attending a high school powder puff game for a couple of hours. As a participant in the 1997 victory over Canton, I think that this time around I can finally get closure.