Why live in Medway, MAI moved to Medway in 1988 when my children were 3 and 5. I had never heard of Medway prior to our decision to move even though I lived in Boston and suburbs all my life. My husband found this town because of an easier commute for him. I was focusing on the North Shore of Boston as my family had settled there but my husband’s commute would be disastrous as he worked in Newton (and still does) so MetroWest seemed to make more sense.
We did the things you all do when you consider a town for your children to grow up in. We looked at the schools, made an appointment with the principal of the primary school they would attend. We looked at the data (pre – internet – so that wasn’t easy) we could get our hands on about the town and all its amenities. We visited the parks and surrounding communities. We just had a sense this would work out well for our entire family.
Take a look at the town (click here) and I think you’ll get a feel for what appealed to us.
It was a major decision for us – much like moving out of state. Certainly my family thought it was as they too had no idea where Medway was. But when we looked at it more closely, we knew the work commute for my husband would be much better than if we had lived on the North Shore. We seemed to get more home for the price in Medway over the North Shore (which is still the case) . And Medway had (and still has ) so much charm. This town still has a small school system, one that has won awards, but small enough that the teachers remember your children, years after they’ve attended school. There’s something nice about meeting a teacher now who will ask about how my two sons are doing years after they’ve graduated. You feel connected.
My sons now 22 and 25 are also connected to the town. Now out of college, one is still living at home (an interim solution as he plans for graduate school) and recently attended a high school graduation for a sister of an old friend. They share stories about teachers, play tennis at the middle school, use instant messaging to see who is home (Medway) from school or work for the weekend to get together.
I think this may change in the next few years, but they have stayed connected with their school friends here. Sometimes those connections now take them quite far away from here. My younger son was doing a semester in Spain when he decided to take a side trip to Germany to meet up with another Medway long time friend from BC who was also doing a semester in Germany. While in the library of the college this friend was attending, my son stumbled upon a young lady who was also a Medway high school alumni . He covered her eyes from behind and asked "Guess Who"? She recognized his voice. Here they were half way around the globe – she not knowing he was stopping off to visit – As I say it’s a small connected community – And yet its residents (certainly this generation) are very mobile and very cosmopolitan. My older son is now in LA doing an internship with Toyota Corporate . The first week was a bit of an adjustment and he was lonely but when I called him the second week, he said he and Alex were out a few times. Alex, I asked? Yes, said he, you know, Mom, Alex from Medway… Yes I do and I’m thrilled he’s met up with him. Turns out Alex settled in LA after graduating college and is doing quite well in his new career. I’m glad they made another connect out there.
Clearly making a decision about where you are going to raise your family is a major one. For some, they may raise their family in two – three – maybe four different places. But for many when you’re settling in with your children, you may be settling in for a generation as we did. Medway was such a good choice for us, for so many reasons. Stay tuned for my next blog which will tell you why Medway should be on your list when considering a move to MetroWest.
