To my hometown,
You have given me a lot.
Yes it’s true, we’re all so very eager to leave you. What you may not know is that we are also awfully thankful for all you have given us. After high school, we rush off and pick a college far away from home. We make sure to note that distance is very important while choosing our next school. We are “so sick of this town and everyone in it.” You are “too small and everyone knows everyone.” We just “can’t wait to meet new people already." While this can be true at times, it is still you hometown, that we love to come back to. We might not be back for good, or maybe we are, but nonetheless there’s “no place like home.”
You have introduced me to friends that I will have for a lifetime. With that came the best friend's parents that became my second parents. These are people that I may never have met without your help. You have even acquainted me with a special boy who also has roots planted in you. Not to mention, the bonds we have formed through you are hard to come by. In this hometown, if one is struck with tragedy, we all are. And in you, nobody is alone and no one is afraid to lend a helping hand. We know when it's time to come together and when we do, we're just like family.
You have given me and so many others the team experience with the variety of sports that represent this town. In high school you gave me Friday night football games and Saturday night hockey games. Especially the hockey, I will never forget how much you love hockey.
You have given me memories and places that will forever bring me nostalgia each time I revisit them. Every summer you give me festivals to attend where I get to reunite with high school friends and even see an old teacher or two. Speaking of high school, it wouldn't be far off to say that many of our parents have attended high school in this very same hometown.
But most importantly hometown, you have given me somewhere I like to call home. Somewhere that we can all meet at "that one bar" over Thanksgiving break or "that one bowling alley" over Christmas break because you know there's only a few good spots to hang out in this small town. While there's only a few good spots, or things to do in general, the company you've provided us with is what makes the good times great. We all know each other or at least of each other and probably have since pre-k. Even our parents know each other, which we may have minded in the high school days...but not so much anymore. Now this is something we cherish. It isn't until college that we realize we will soon be off to start our own lives and probably plant roots in someone else's hometown. However, no matter where we end up, none of us will forget where we came from and all you have given us hometown.
Thank you for all of the memories and the people that are a part of them.
From,
Just a small town girl.
