The Christie Story
User Story
By Christie Campbell
My loyalty to Edmonton has been challenged by many a peer, and this is my chance to publicly proclaim why I love life in Edmonton.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not wealthy. I don't benefit from the Klein government's corporation favoritism. I'm a young writer. I'm naturally critical and trained to be even more so. I am aware of Edmonton's drab, sun-faded structures; I see the Wal-Marts and skunchy neighbourhoods. I used to live 2 blocks away from the Legislature where I witnessed grand theft auto from my bedroom window.
And I don't always love living here. I don’t always love living anywhere.
But as a wise musical tripper from Modest Mouse once crooned,
“As life gets longer, awful feels softer
and it feels pretty soft to me.”
Once you get familiar with Edmonton, she gets familiar with you. It only takes a few trips to the local shops before the workers recognize you. You’ll find a niche to fit in no matter how strange or normal you might think you are. Maybe one day, like me, you'll walk over a bridge, look out over the river, and think about how people used to cross the North Saskatchewan on foot.
You might envy the playful flock of seagulls on the sandbar. Those lazy seagulls that preen and play and fly around without a care in the world.
I watched them one summer afternoon. I held my lover's hand as he cooed sweet nothings to me. I tried not to think about my fear of heights and bridges and just think about him and seagulls and our life together. I thought about how Edmonton had brought me everything I'd ever wanted: my life and the scenery.
Everything I've ever wanted or needed, I already have and am.
