Framingham Massachusetts is one of the best places to grow up. It is only 20 minutes from Boston and a half hour from Worcester. The town is so diverse and huge, yet everyone knows everyone. Here are 11 ways you know you grew up in the 'Old Ham'.
1. The complex right by Loring Arena isn't just a bunch of baseball fields, it was the number one hangout spot as a kid. Baseball in the spring and football/cheerleading in the fall. The only thing that made us go home were the lights turning off.
2. The junior lot for Framingham High is like a mile away. As a junior, you sucked it up, but if you got junior lot as a senior, your life was practically over. You would not dare to park in the senior lot as a junior because you can assure that your car would get egged or ruined by the end of the day.
3. Gianni's is more than just a pizza place, it's a way of life. From walking there after middle school half days to ordering their pizza completing your girl's night, their food never disappoints.
4. For some people, it takes them 10 minutes max to drive from one side of town to the other. We are used to it taking at least 25 minutes to from one side to the other and that is without traffic. I guess it comes with being the largest town in America!
5. Growing up in Framingham, you learned some words in Portuguese, even if it was just all the swear words. Downtown is literally known as "Little Brasil". If you aren't Brazilian and live in Fham, then you just take full advantage of the all the amazing Brazilian restaurants in downtown, of course.
6. You grew up hating Natick and you still hate them. The rivalry stirs from the Thanksgiving game and simply never leaves you.
7. Even though the mall is TECHNICALLY in Natick, it is and always will be our mall. I guess it kind of goes with the whole rivalry thing too.
8. Framingham does not shy away from diversity. Your best friend could be purple with green polka-dots and no one would even look twice. There are so many interracial relationships that come from that town. I mean look at me, I am white and my best friend is a Puerto Rican Jew.
9. To the rest of the world, a Gulf gas station is just a place to get gas and some red bull, but the Gulf in Framingham is always the meet up spot before going out.
10. Most people's graduating classes are 200 students or less. Our graduating class sizes are at least triple that and growing because all of the middle schools are pooled into one high school. Like I said, we may have a large high school, but everyone know everyone.
11. Growing up in Framingham, you know that you grew up in the best town in America. From the diversity to a small town feel while still being the largest town in the US, you get the best of both worlds.
I personally would not change where I grew up because I have had nothing but good happen to me coming from that town. It takes a village to raise a child, and I am happy that mine was Framingham.
