There's no place like home!!! But what if home is filled with ghosts and horrible memories? Or what if home is a safety net keeping a person from going out in the world and spreading their wings? We all tend to idealize things, especially when things are remembered through the eyes of a child, but for me, my younger years hold no such ideals. I left home many, many years ago because my only real choices were to leave and live or to stay and die. I chose life! I really never wanted to return again and stayed away for over 20 years. After being out in the world, the more I saw and learned, the pain became dull and the wounds healed leaving minimal scars. Home was just that and although it was far from being perfect, it definitely was one of the biggest factors of what has made me who I am today.
When I left home, I immediately suffered from severe culture shock. Moving from New England to the South was like moving to another planet. Now many years later after blending into my environment here on The Redneck Riviera, I still feel like a fish out of water. It seems I always gravitate towards people from the North....why? Some unknown, unnamed force draws me to them. It's not that I feel they are better in any way. It just seems that the same roots that make me who I am seems to run in their blood also. We share unspoken truths and common ground. We share a common outlook on life for the most part. Leaving home not only gave me a chance for survival, but it helped mend the wounds that would have never healed by staying. Distance gave me a chance to develop a deep appreciation of the place I was born and raised and of the people who really are my kindred spirits.
Comments:
WilliamDECEMBER 20, 2004 AT 6:42 AM EDIT
Know how you feel about transplantation and being out of place. I live in Missouri, and the family loves to go to Branson for vacation. It’s like Vegas, but with Jesus.