I love and exemplify the town where I grew up in Short Hills, New Jersey. It's a beautiful town where It was such a nice, quiet, and great city filled with an abundance of activities to do and events to go too. Some expensive mansions are nestled in this great town and show a great sense of architecture. It is also characterized by very well built homes and hilly roads. Living in Short Hills for eight years taught me a lot and it is where I grew up and learned valuable lessons. It is where I molded myself into the person I am today. It is where my heart is.

I moved around a lot as a child. My first memory of being in Short Hills was playing in a round box in the middle of the family room. I was sitting in the box minding my own business while my mother and grandma where setting things up and eating cold cuts in the kitchen. There was no cable and barely any lighting. I had my Xbox 360 on the ground where I was playing Halo 3 that night. We had just moved into an apartment and where still setting up. I was nervous though because of how the move would go and how I would fit in at school and in the town. This would not be my first time of moving to another town. Over time I came to realize that this was the perfect town for me and the place where I was destined to be. I remember not liking Middle school so much, but high school was a lot better. After a while I came to love the town and love my small apartment. It was a permanent stay and the longest time I would live at a single town and place for eight long years.

A nickname we used for Short Hills was "Short Thrills," for Millburn a town next door, we would call it "illburn." "illburn" as in great and cool. Short Hills is really where I made great friends and best friends that I have even today. I formed bonds with people that can never be broken. The people that I was friends with on the football team where like brothers. We fought and worked hard for the same goal, to win. We worked together and became a family. I can remember the good times and the bad times. The moments of growth and of struggle. Coupled with I and my friends walking into town enjoying the weather and illuminating lights in town.

My house had to be in the most perfect spot for everything. Near my house I could walk to the high school and I could walk to many other places. I had a basketball court within a minute of my house where I would play many times. 7-Eleven was also a great place to go too that was close to my house. I can remember getting Slurpees many times and walking back to my house. Gamestop was a short walk from my home and so was Wendy's. Wendy's was a place where I and my friends would splurge on the dollar menu items and eat. It was a chill place to eat especially when we had senior privilege. Senior privilege was a great rule where we had about an hour and fifteen minutes of time to go out and eat and get back to school when the time was up. The famous Millburn deli was within 15 to 20 minutes from my house and it clearly houses the best sandwiches known to New Jersey. The sandwiches are delicious and the setting of the store is vibrant and lively. Both Short Hills and Millburn are lively towns where you can see many different people walking around on weekends and just hanging out. The park behind the deli is very nice and has a nice stream of water that flows under a bridge. I can remember many times eating out at good restaurants in town with some friends or hanging out at a friends home. The great thing that was taken for granted was living so close to my other friends. I could walk five to ten minutes to get to a couple of my friends houses. Some being about 20 to 25 minutes but that still is not bad. I would go visit my friends at their apartment complex a lot and go to the pool there. Additionally, I was working at many different restaurants in the center of town.

Another appreciable fact about living in Short Hills is how close it is in vicinity to New York. The train is right by and it does not take a long time to get to New York City. Many times my friends and I would take the train up to New York to see games of professional basketball or to just hang out and look around.

Another great thing living in Short Hills was the Short Hills mall. It is a luxurious and spacious mall filled with many great stores. From the Macy's store, to the Apple store, to the art of shaving store. The mall is filled with tons of great stores. We would walk around the mall a lot late at night thinking about life. Just talking about what we wanted to do in our lives and what we were doing. Anyone from Short Hills knows about the great big fountain on the first level where I would throw a lot of change and try to get it to hit the top and fall through the huge sphere spiraling down into the platform. One time I was able to flip the coin all the way to the top through the sphere where it fell and fell to the platform slowly. I can still remember junior prom and winning prom king, not thinking I would even win. There were a lot of great times.

Nothing can make me forget Short Hills. It is the place that made me who I am today and where I had some of my greatest moments. From making great friends that I have today to being in a secure safe town. One day I hope to be able to live in such a great town and have a good future. Short Hills is where my heart is and every day I regret moving away. I can still remember having to leave my apartment and move from my favorite town. My eyes slightly watered as some tears fell down onto the concrete. I take a last picture to remember the moment. As I walk towards the car, I say to myself that I will be back again. I will not forget the friends that I made and the people that I met along the way. Unquestionably, I will always remember this great town, I love you Short Hills.