"There's no place like home."

Dear Hometown,

Some days, I find myself wishing to be in Dorothy's shoes (literally, those ruby slippers are all of my glittery goals). I wish for the ability to just tap my heels together, wake up in my own bed with my cat cuddled next to me, and to know my mom is right across the hall. Other days, I relish in my independence and do my best to make the most out of the new day and all the opportunities it holds. Unfortunately, the former is usually the case during times of stress. Between midterms, homecoming, and being sick all in the same week, I've been feeling pretty nostalgic. I'm longing to return to you, my anonymous little village in Michigan, where everyone knows my name.

You are pretty minuscule compared to the college town I live in now. Whenever I hear people comment on how small my current city limits are, I chuckle and remind them that at least there is more than one stoplight. Seriously. I never knew how much I'd miss that solitary blinking red light, not to mention the awesome ice cream place that stands there. It denotes the four-way stop serving as the bustling hub of our community of less than 1,000 people. Before I graduated and moved away to college, I often thought of you as constraining and claustrophobic. I saw the same people in the same routines who lived in the same houses for all of their lives. I thought of them as trapped. Determined to never be your hostage, I promptly moved to a school on the opposite side of the country.

Fast forward two years, and I find myself aching to return to that place where I once felt trapped. Where I used to feel confined I now feel free, especially when I drive through your endless seas of corn fields and blue skies. In a time of my life when everything seems to be changing, you renew my sense of stability (not to mention sanity). Driving down your familiar country roads puts me at ease, and I don't feel like I'm officially home until I get stuck behind some type of farm equipment. Your little quirks and details that used to drive me up a wall are now the characteristics I adore the most.

There are countless small towns, just like you, scattered all over the world. To those who live in them, these towns may seem monotonous and insignificant. Although it may not be the overly romanticized image of idyllic small town life usually seen in movies, everyone's little community shapes them into who they are today. You have seen me at my best and my worst. Some of my earliest and often fondest memories are centered around you. For all the negative things people say about small towns, I firmly believe I will never experience a stronger support system than the one I grew up in. When one family falls on hard times, the you come together to raise them back up with a power and unity that I have yet to witness anywhere else.

A change in perspective can be extremely powerful; it took me moving 1,000 miles away to realize how much that tiny village has shaped me. Just like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," sometimes you have to leave your home in order to fully appreciate it.

See you at Thanksgiving!

Love always,

Your small town girl (living in a lonely world, of course)