While attending college at Texas A&M, Mary Ann (photo) decided that she wanted to study abroad in Germany. While in Germany she met a guy from Buffalo named Jason who she says, “He was so passionate about his hometown that it sounded like the streets must be paved in gold, he showed me a site called Buffalo Rising, and after following it for a while I knew that this was the type of city that I would live in someday. I wanted to live in a place where I was not just a number and I could be involved with a community”.
The two fell madly in love and upon returning to her hometown of Houston, Mary Ann decided that she wanted to plan a visit to Buffalo. “I always wanted to live near the East Coast,” she told me. “When I was little I lived in an old house with wood floors that creaked. When my family moved to Houston I found that many of the neighborhoods looked alike… there was no real character. And the areas that had character were too expensive to live in. I first visited Buffalo in late August, and one of the first things I did was spend some time walking around Delaware Park. It was then that I knew I would one day call Buffalo my home.”
When Mary Ann returned to Houston she told her family that she wanted to move to Buffalo, and their response was, “Are you crazy?” She said that she was sure that meeting Jason in Germany (a trip that both parties almost opted out of) was all part of a grand scheme, and upon seeing all of the different communities in Buffalo, with all of the old houses, there was no doubt in her mind. “In Houston it’s either hot or cool. When I came to visit in August I left miserably hot temperatures and arrived to find comfortable weather. I know that Buffalo sees snow, but I am an avid skier… and my favorite season is fall. I love the different seasons and the changing of the leaves. I guess I came to Buffalo for love and leaves.”
Mary Ann is spending the next few days looking for an apartment that she will live in while Jason finishes up school in Binghamton. That means that not only are we getting a Buffalo Honey (a girl who moves to Buffalo for a guy), we are also awaiting the return of a die-hard, ex-pat (soon to be re-pat), Buffalo booster. And Mary Ann is a huge fan of sports (go figure… Texas A&M), who I’m sure will be a tough convert when it comes to Buffalo sports. That’s OK, she can duke it out with Jason over sports, and then take a nice walk in Delaware Park.