When leaving home for the first time, you were probably beyond ready for the next chapter of your life; that clean slate in a brand new place: college. Sure, you figured you would miss the parents that raised you, the friends that built you and the home that kept you dry and safe and warm for 18 years. But, after living away from home, you've come to realize that there's so much that makes your hometown a home. Here are the 10 things that you never thought you would miss:
1. Being able to drive aimlessly around long, windy roads and actually know where you're going. You miss not being able to get lost in your town, even though you're the most geographically-challenged person on this planet.
2. Knowing your house like the back of your hand; being able to walk around your house in the pitch black and know where the light switch is, where the floorboards creek, where the paint is chipping, where each and every one of your belongings reside.
3. Your DOGS. Falling asleep cuddling your pups. Waking up to their very extremely stinky breath and super wet kisses. You miss everything about them; their companionship, their presence, even their stench.
4. Being able to walk into your favorite bagel store and getting greeted with "same order as always?" You never thought you would miss Buono's bagels elite staff of cooks, but when you're 100 miles from home, you often find yourself longing for that bacon, egg and cheese that is never not cooked to perfection, just the way you like it. (Crispy bacon, scooped out bagel and all.)
5. How routine your home life is. School until 2:17 p.m. Club meeting until 3. Nap at 5. Dinner at 6. Sleep at 11. Just to wake up and do it all again tomorrow.
6. Your mom's baking that literally smells like home. Your mom's special homemade chocolate chip, caramel bars that she reserves for "special occasions" (even though she makes them whenever you ask). Your mom's brownies that you swear are crafted by the baking gods, even though they are really from a box.
7. Knowing everyone and everything. The places to avoid on your lunch break or during your study hall, the exact time it will take you to get to and from school each day, the workers at your favorite Dunkin Donuts, the pizza place with the best grandma slice, you literally know everything there is to know.
8. The mattress that has molded to your body. The warm, cotton sheets that smell and feel like home. The shower that you don't have to wear flip flops in. You miss it all.
9. High school. Bet you never thought you would miss waking up at 6 a.m. every day. (OK, never mind, you definitely don't miss that.) But, you do miss (only a little) walking down the halls that you were once dying to get out of, you miss the classmates that you thought you outgrew, you miss your high school locker that was literally bursting at the seems with scrap paper and empty water bottles and notebooks that you thought were long gone.
10. You knew you would miss your friends and family, you just didn't know it would be this much. You miss coming home to your mom's cooking, a stocked fridge and freezer, your parent's hugs. You miss being able to walk to your best friend's house, being able to do anything and everything with the people that you grew up with.
And while you absolutely love your college and the home that you've made there, you still sometimes find yourself longing for that home cooked meal, that hug from your mom, that grossly wet kiss from your dog. There is nothing like your hometown and all the love that it has brought, and will continue to bring, you.
