Dear Home,
Where do I even begin? First, I apologize for always complaining on how much I hate you and couldn't wait to get away. Being 200 plus miles away makes me miss you more and more every day. I miss the smell of the cornfields during harvest season or the beautiful fragrance of the sunflowers when they are in full bloom. I miss the hot, humid summer days of July and the frigid cold feeling of the January air. I miss complaining about the smell of the local cow pasture when the wind was out of the east or the sound of the birds in the early spring when they start singing as soon as the sun begins to rise.
I believe I owe you a big thank you for being a place I can always call home, no matter how far I venture. I spent almost all the years of my life growing up playing in the cornfields that surrounded my house on all three sides, or racing my bike against my siblings up and down the back roads. Now, you may have been one of those towns that most people just stop off the highway to refill their cars with fuel, but to me you're so much more. You are the place where I would go with friends to Hudson's for some ice cream in summer, or to get a gallon of milk in the winter when the snow has everyone locked inside.
You may only have one little stoplight that is always blinking red, but everyone knows that you still have to stop because the town sheriff is sitting right there in the church parking lot waiting for his next victim. Many people may not understand the importance of all these small minor details, but all of these helped me learn to not take the small things in life for granted, since one day they might not be there and you will notice and miss them greatly.
Reflecting back, I could of grown up so much more of an awful place and all your little imperfections make you perfectly imperfect. Through my 18 years of spending every moment of my life wondering what it would be like to get away and see what else is out there, I only have one thing to say -- thank you for creating me into the person I am today and I am proud to call Cygnet, Ohio my hometown.
Forever grateful,
Your homegrown country girl.
