By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Even after 10 years in Chicago, Vanessa White got a little homesick every time a relative celebrated a birthday or anniversary without her.

Her family had a routine to help her feel better. They'd gather around the phone in Cincinnati so she could hear them sing "Happy Birthday" or yell congratulations to the honored guest.

And before hanging up, they'd all shout, "We miss you!"

She missed them, too.

For a while, Chicago was exciting. She was raised in Walnut Hills and was the first member of her family to leave town. She was married, she had a new baby and her husband, Byron, had a dream job as a journalist at the Chicago Tribune.

She figured they'd stay a few years and come back home. The whole thing seemed like a big adventure.

"We left thinking it was transitional," White says. "It turned out not to be."

A few years turned into a decade. She had a second baby, and then triplets. And while the couple made great friends and her husband's career took off, the distance from her family in Cincinnati grew greater every year.

"We were always around family growing up," she says. "My grandmother cooked big meals and everyone got together.

"It was hard for me to raise children away from the family."

When her parents visited Chicago a few years ago, she watched her stepfather's face light up as her children climbed onto his lap, laughing and playing.

She couldn't help thinking it would be months before he could visit again. That's when she told her husband she wanted to move home. And they did.

Now he's working at Xavier University and she's studying for her master's degree in business administration.

They like their children's schools, the shorter commutes and their new neighborhood in North Avondale.

Best of all, she says, her children are finally getting to know their extended family.

"This is a nice place to raise a family," she says. "It's home."