Home?

I am “home” this weekend in Florence. I can’t believe I’ve been gone for six and a half years. (Yikes, how am I old enough to have been gone that long? I don’t think I left when I was 14!) There is still an overwhelming sense of calmness that comes over me the minute I see the city limit sign. I also feel the need to see all the sights and eat at all my favorite restaurants. For the most part, things stay the same in my hometown. Somehow it seems like life has somehow remained simple here. While the town has progressed and seen growth since I have been gone, it still holds onto its small town roots. The simple things in life aren’t taken for granted but are enjoyed. Saturdays are built around ballgames, Sundays around church and “the river” is where you go for an afternoon getaway. I am amazed at no matter how much I love the Boro and can’t see myself living anywhere else that this still feels like “home”. Every time I am “home” I wonder why I don’t visit more and become more “homesick” than I ever am when I am away. Nostalgia takes over. Every street I drive down, every person I see, and every song on the radio brings a story to my mind. The place I make fun of for its simple ways suddenly seems like the best place in the world. Sometimes while I’m here I can almost see myself coming “home” to live. But then reality sets in and I see the opportunities I’ve had in the Boro that would have never happened at “home”. But I do hope in some way this always feels like “home”, a place of refuge from the rest of the world and a place where things somehow remain simple.

Sweet Home Alabama.....