A hometown is where a child's worldview starts. It's where a person has the opportunity to plant roots in a community and with a culture. A hometown can be big or small, but no matter the size, a hometown has its own adventures. Some people end up leaving their hometown and some continue growing it with their own family. Whoever you are and wherever you go, you'll always consider the place you spent your childhood your home. If you move away when you're older, then you'll have two hometowns. When you visit your hometown to see family and old friends, you'll say, "I'm going home," and when your visit is over, you'll also say, "I've got to get back home."

My hometown is Arlington, Texas and it has grown a lot.

The schools and neighborhoods are different because its home to a new generation of kids. It is by the grace of God in my life that I get to call Arlington my hometown, because my parents grew up in a different town; they didn't even grow up in Texas. Even though I didn't get to see my extended family as much as others while growing up, I will forever be thankful for the adventures that I've had because of the opportunity to call Arlington, Texas my hometown.

"It's not necessary to go far and wide. I mean, you can really find exciting and inspiring things within your hometown."

Here are a few things anyone who grew up in Arlington will remember:

The best neighborhood was a cul-de-sac neighborhood.

The best place to play was in your own front yard. It felt like you spent longer than a school day outside playing with the neighborhood kids, whether it was a game of baseball in the cul-de-sac, riding bikes up and down the street, playing in a neighbor's backyard, going on truck rides when the dad's got home from work, or playing hide-n-seek as the sun went down. I even remember summer nights when parents would plan neighborhood cook-outs; the parents would sit and talk while the kids played. I was thankful to have grown up in a cul-de-sac neighborhood in Arlington!

If you grew up in Arlington in the '90s, or prior to, you'll know why the road by Hurricane Harbor is called Wet N Wild Way.

DQ or Braum's?

There wasn't a Dairy Queen on my side of Arlington so Braum's was the place to go for the cold and creamy dessert with the soccer team, and Khaki's was the place to go for Sunday lunch after church!

You'll remember playing soccer games at Harold Patterson Fields before there was a shopping center blocking the view.

Who remembers when Cooper Street didn't cause so much driver anxiety and road rage? (Okay, so I've only heard stories about the fun and leisurely street Cooper once was for all pedestrians and drivers.)

Just look at those people casually walking across Cooper Street without any fear or worry!

Who remembers when The Texas Rangers Stadium was ready for opening day in 1994? (Okay, so I was only three years old to even realize that it even happened, HAHA!)

If Arlington was your hometown, your first snow sledding experience was probably on the snow hill at Six Flags during Holiday In The Park.

And you probably learned how to roller skate before you could ice skate. The Arlington Skatium was the best place to be for kids and teenagers before there was ice skating at the Parks Mall and way before there was an Urban Air.

I enjoy looking back in the past of my hometown with the wonderful imagination of my youth. However, I enjoy it much more now as I look at my hometown as an adult. I am thankful for the memories and the adventures of my childhood, but I've learned more about my city as I've grown-up. I've traveled more around the city and around the world. I've learned to be thankful for my hometown. I've seen growth in the development of the city and in the people. I've learned about other peoples hometown experiences within Arlington and around the world. I'm grateful for the years spent in my youth, but I'm even more thankful that Arlington has changed. Arlington is changing because there is a new generation there. The past is good unless it keeps you from embracing change for the future.

“How strange it is to view a town you grew up in, not in wonderment through the eyes of youth, but with the eyes of a historian on the way things were.”
― Marvin Allan Williams