When I was a kid, I lived in an area of New York State that was, in many ways, idyllic. The worst thing that Mother Nature threw at us was poison ivy. But while I still love that place deeply, there wasn’t enough action to hold me there. Instead, I became deeply bonded to a grittier patch of Earth, New York City. And I grew even more keenly aware of the ties that other people feel for particular locations when I fell in love with my husband, David, who had New Orleans tattooed on his heart.

(Photo by Barbara Krysztofiak on Unsplash)