Everyone has grown up in a town that everyone they knew hated and wanted to leave. My hometown was no different. Everyone I knew had aspirations to do something bigger than our town would allow. My entire life I heard only the negatives about where I lived: that it was too hot, too small and too windy. It was not until I left that I realized how great it actually was. I never knew how much I took my hometown for granted.
For starters, I never realized how great it was to be within walking distance from all of my friends. We all lived within a two block radius from each other. Summer nights were spent sneaking out of our houses and watching the stars from the park by our homes. Every Tuesday was Taco Tuesday, and every Friday was Spaghetti Friday. All my friends would walk to my house and I would cook them dinner. Now that I am an adult and I live in a different city than all of my friends, I miss that closeness that my town had. I miss being a stone's toss away from the people that were my family.
Something else I took for granted from my hometown and something I think everyone does is how your hometown is yours. You know its streets, you know all the side roads that get you to your favorite coffee shop and you know the best spots to watch the sunsets. Your hometown added to your self-concept and made you the person you are today. My town taught me how to be creative. I lived in the middle of nowhere, and you have to be creative while stranded in the Mojave desert. My town gave me a love for adventure and exploration that I have taken with me to my new home. I never appreciated its beauty. My hometown was home to one of the largest poppy preserves, and it was also one of the only places in America that grew Joshua Trees. I never cared until I moved somewhere that had buildings on either side of me and I did not have much to look at anymore.
I grew up always dreaming of getting out and doing something with my life. I wanted to escape the trap I called my home for eighteen years. Now, going on my third year away, I understand what it did for me. We cannot choose where we come from, but we can choose what we do with what we are given. I chose to take the great parts of my town and add them to my person to make me who I am, and I am so grateful for where I came from.
