I never thought I would miss my hometown. In fact, I couldn’t wait to leave, move on and find the bigger and better things outside my suburban bubble. Of course I love my new home, friends and surroundings, but my heart will always lie in suburban Milwaukee.

Dear Mequon,

I am sorry I was so eager to leave you. I took you and everything you have given me for granted, it took college for me to realize that. You are a town that all your teenaged residents seem to loath yet still come home to. You’re a town filled with high school pride on Friday nights. A town riddled with rich, overbearing parents. A town with excellent academics we will never let you forget. A town, although boring, that is my home.

You’re a town filled with firsts: you not only gave me my first friend but my first love. You’re familiar. You’re safe. A place that is undoubtedly hard to come back to, but when it’s time to go, it’s much more difficult to leave. The comfort within my hometown is what fosters my desire to come home for long weekends, drive the streets I once thought I owned and reminisce with my childhood friends.

When I returned home for break, it was hard to forget the memories my town gave me. It reminds me of my childhood riding bikes down the street, the restaurant I had my first date at and the park where I had my first kiss. It’s easy to miss a place that has always meant to much.

My hometown built me; It taught me life lessons, set unrealistically high expectations and paved the way for my future. To the outsider, my town may seem bland, but it’s my town. It's special in one way or another to all those who have the pleasure to live there.

But when we go away to college, we begin to forget what our home life is like. We call our colleges home and constantly thank the lord that we survived high school and no longer live in the bubble our parents have cultivated. But we all know that college isn’t truly our real home—our real home will always be our hometown whether we choose to admit it or not. And sometimes we may even find ourselves wishing to be back in the bubble because that life is simple, carefree and full of love.

When my friends and I return home from our respective colleges, we come to our old stomping grounds. Our hometown is where the best and the worst memories have been made. Although we all have grown and changed, we will have our suburban town as a common characteristic. It will always be our home.

So here’s to you Mequon. Thanks for shaping me and constantly reminding me of everything I have to be thankful for.