Miranda Lambert sings:
“You leave home, you move on, and you do the best you can.”
The semester is winding down and the holidays are close. My best friends are constantly asking if I’m “going home” for Thanksgiving or when I’m “going home” for Winter Break. While it’s true that I am going back to my hometown for the holidays, it’s hard for me to consider Tustin, Calif. my actual “home” anymore. That may sound harsh, but I don’t mean it to. I am excited to go back to Orange County and see my family, dog, high school friends, etc. But my current life no longer lives in Orange County, it’s in Norman.
I live in Norman, Okla. for nine out of the 12 months of the year. As I get older, that number may only go up. I attend school in Norman, my car is in Norman, all of my belongings are in Norman. I celebrate most holidays in Norman and my social life is in Norman. When I go back to my hometown, it’s like going on vacation. Sure I work a little and I’ll probably take the horrid summer classes at a college near my old house, but it’s no longer my home. It’s in my past. We all eventually create a new home for ourselves and leave our childhood home behind. The biggest question for us is when will that happen, and when do we see that it has happened? Well, that time has come for me.
I’m not saying I’m dreading going back to California, I’m just saying I feel more like a guest when I am there. My parents clean my room for me, cook my favorite meals, etc., because they know I won’t be there long. My friends and I plan big activities for us to do to “enjoy California” as if we are tourists visiting from out of state. We go to our favorite coffee shops, beaches, L.A., and Disneyland because we know it’ll be months before we get to do those things again. So I think I have hit my turning point. I have grown up. I have created my own, new home in Norman. Which I am very okay and happy with. Tustin will always have a huge place in my heart, and I will always love going back to visit it. But as time moves on, I must too.
I love my life in Norman. I’ve gotten to meet amazing new people and experience a new place -- which is what life is all about. I’m just lucky my loved ones back in my hometown will always welcome me back with open arms. Whenever I need to escape, I have a place to go back to my childhood days.
As Lambert sings:
“Won’t take nothing but a memory, from the house that built me.”