If you've ever been around your hometown with a family member that is older than you, there is a possibility that they have said things such as, "When I was your age, none of these buildings were here," or, "I used to go to school there when it was still called a junior high school." Both of these have come out of one of my family member's mouths. It can be interesting to hear stories about how my hometown used to look, and how things used to be, and I like to believe that the pictures I paint in my head of Waynesville before my time are accurate, although I know they're not. A clothing store on main street used to be a dime store. Waynesville Middle School used to be called Waynesville Junior High. The hills covered in houses used to be woods where my dad and his brothers used to hunt rabbits. It's amazing how much things can change in a relatively short amount of time. It's only been 61 years since my dad was born, and I know that in a relative sense compared to how many years the earth has existed or that America has been a country, that is a very very short amount of time. I have been told of the many changes Waynesvile has undergone since then, but coming back to Waynesville, I have seen how much things have changed in only the short span of one year that I have been gone.

Driving past a baseball field, trees have been cleared off of the hills surrounding it. New roads have been built and torn down, buildings have been revamped or are occupied by new businesses, people have moved, new paint is drying everywhere. There's a Chick-Fil-A being built! I feel old going back to my high school to see my former band director because there are so many new faces that don't even know I ever played the tenor saxophone there. They have redone the gym floor where I played basketball since I was 5 years old, in camps and then in games. I know why my dad always brags about his football state championship that was won while he was at Tuscola. We get the idea that what we did and what we accomplished is the best thing to happen. It's so weird, and it makes me feel weird. I feel like strange people are walking through the halls of my high school, and it sometimes shocks me when I visit for the first time in forever and realize that I don't know anyone, but that the school is still running and the earth is still turning without me and my friends. I think that this is something that all high school graduates go through and learn, though. The art of letting go of that period of life. Change can be good.

I can't help but think of all of this when I drive through town with my dad. To him, all these things are normal because he has been here to see it happen, and perhaps he is used to things changing. I am not so blind to it all. I feel weird walking through the remodeled Ingles that has had the same layout since I was born until now. It feels weird to not know the roads because things have been redone and changed. I have to realize, though, that things are going to change whether I am there for it or not. I have made Asheville my home since I have been in College, and I'm sure that when I leave for a while and visit again, I will feel the same way about Warren Wilson and Asheville as I do about Tuscola and Waynesville. I think I finally understand why all of my family reminisce on the way things used to be because it all probably made them feel weird when they realized everything had changed too.

Soon enough, I'll be saying something like, "Back in my day, you had to drive up a hill both ways to get to school, even in the snow." Which, considering Tuscola is up on a hill, won't exactly be a lie.