The place I grew up is different from where I was born. Both places put honey in my heart and made me as sweet as I could be.
Where I was born is known as the "City of Good Neighbors," with cold winters and good pizza and about an hour from the border of the US and Canada. The landscape has hills and large trees, and during the winter, it's filled with piles of snow. Snow piles where kids play all day until parents call them home to defrost just for dinner. The city who loves their sports teams, win or lose. Downtown trips filled with the scent of Honey Nut Cheerios and the hopes of better days.
Where I grew up is a little place about thirty minutes or more from anything interesting. My city sounds like a brand of butter, but I can assure you, the butter is not made there. Anywhere you go, there's patches of conservation areas of green trees that look fake when the sky gets dark from a summer rainstorm and fields of cows that no one knows their purpose - they're just there living their life. An area known to the other half of the county that is famous for being on Live PD but is actually full of kind souls and good people. Cross-town rivals are just fifteen minutes apart and separated by a state road or two. High school students spend September nights underneath Friday night lights, with nothing but school spirit as they cheer for their team, no matter how good or bad they are. Music is always being played - country music, most of the time.
Just an hour or so away from the city of Tampa, the city of St. Petersburg, and the city of Clearwater, there are places that are all vibrant with life and sports games, as well as heavy traffic. My town sits quietly with not much to do. When it rains, the whole town is gloomy and grey for the day, and nothing changes. But when the sun shines and sets for the day, the sky becomes vibrant with pinks, oranges, and reds to create a beautiful sky that is always picture worthy. A sky so beautiful that you're almost guaranteed to see it on everyone's Snapchat story; a sky so stunning that it rivals the sunsets here at Florida Gulf Coast.
The city where I was born was always busy with the life of sports games and cold winters, but the city where I grew up is what made me who I am. A town that is quiet and doesn't have much to do is where I come from. A place where the food is okay, the summers are long and hot, and the winters aren't nearly as cold as the north. A place that is an hour and a half away from Disney World and at least 30 minutes from anything else to do. A town where the cows moo and the sky is almost always a breathtaking shade of blue. A place that I am proud to call home.
Both of these places I call home and hold in my heart. Despite the distance and time I've spent away from home, they will always be the places that put honey in my heart.
