One of my favorite things about the Katy Times’ new owners, Fenice Community Media, is how they share my commitment to being active members of the community.

I don’t want just to write about what’s happening in Katy. I want to be a part of it. The only difference between our readers and me is that I take a recording device with me when I attend events.

This past weekend, Katy Times was the headlining sponsor of the Fall Home and Garden Show. It was a fantastic experience, and even though I’m still completely exhausted from it, I’m so glad we were able to be a part of it.

It was one of those moments where I found myself profoundly aware of how lucky I am to be a part of the city. I always love this city, but it’s kind of like how you don’t always reflect on how cute your kids are until they’re sleeping: certain situations just make you more appreciative of things.

It’s personal. It’s meaningful.

It wasn’t always like that for me, though.

I have a confession to make: growing up, I didn’t appreciate Katy at all. I went to private schools in Houston, so I wasn’t immersed in the schools here. I was also so preoccupied with looking beyond to the future that a lot of the culture here passed my notice.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Katy. I knew that I lived in a safe, kind community. I knew my parents chose to live here because there were good schools and good people here. The majority of my friends went to Taylor High School, so I spent my free time cruising around Katy with them.

I left Katy when I went to college at UT Austin. I moved back to Houston briefly afterwards, but I lived by the Galleria. When I got married, we moved back to Austin.

But after I had kids, I just knew that I needed to come back to Katy. It turns out that all that time I was growing up, I’d been absorbing the city, even if I didn’t feel connected to it. A part of me just knew that this was home, and I needed to raise my kids here.

I’ve been back here for almost five years now, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who loves this community more than I do. With every story I tell and every person I meet, I feel more connected to this place.

It’s hard to explain it to outsiders, who see us as a suburb of Houston and nothing more. How do you describe a place that’s larger than Detroit but still has a festival to a crop we used to grow here? How do you explain what it’s like to live in a place where the economy is booming, but downtown shop owners still remember your love of antique books?

I guess you don’t. You just live it and soak it in. Maybe you don’t see it right away, but one day you wake up and realize this is more than just a place to live. It’s a place for living.

Claire Goodman is the Managing Editor of Katy Times. She may be reached at claire.goodman@katytimes.com.