I was 13 years old when I moved away from my hometown.
I was moving from a small town in Michigan to the big city of Chicago that I had only visited a handful of times. I was leaving behind all of my family aside from my parents, the house I grew up in, and my friends I had grown up with.
Everyone said they'd keep in touch, my parents said I would fit in at my new school and no one would notice I was the new girl, I was starting high school, tons of people transfer schools before high school! Let me tell you, moving away was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I am going to tell you three brutal truths about moving away from your hometown.
1. Your friends will abandon you.
The last thing my two best friends, my best friends since preschool, said to me was, "call me when if you need anything!" I arrived in Chicago at approximately 2 pm, when I arrived my parents told me to take our dogs in the backyard. Once I went around to the back of my brand new "home," I tried calling both of my best friends. Neither one picked up, and neither one has returned my call. That was five years ago. When you go back to visit, some may say they want to see you, but when you are listening to all your friends talk about the people that you don't know, you see them dating people who you'd never expect them with, and you see that they've picked up dirty habits like smoking and drinking, your childhood with them will forever be altered. It has been five years since I had moved, and I talked to one person from home, and we have been on and off talking since then. There will be select few who will not abandon you, but they have to be a pretty rare kind and you should cherish that forever.
2. Home will not feel like home for a long time
After moving into a new house, it never felt like home. There were no swings in the backyard, there was no trampoline under a big tree that in the fall covers the trampoline with red leaves, and there is no treehouse your father built you when you were eight. There are only empty walls you try to post things on to make home-ier, and you arrange your room in a new way hoping it'll make you feel more at home. In my case, my father painted my room "hot air balloon pink," and he painted all the walls including my bedroom door. While laying in bed, it felt like I was trapped in a piggy bank. Then when your parents buy a different home and you move into that one, it may feel more like home. However, nothing will feel like home till you make one for yourself. Once you find a place you choose to be, that is the next time you may feel like you're where you belong. Trust me, you will always think of your childhood home, and even drive past it sometimes when you're in town for a visit just to make sure it looks the same.
3. It will eventually be okay
At first, moving away seemed like the worst thing that could've happened to me. When I started high school, I was bullied for the way I talked, dressed, and the fact I could not understand certain slang terms. I was the target for the first year and a half I was at my new high school. You eventually start making friends, you join clubs, you make friends of your friends and eventually you find your place. You will look back on old pictures and feel nothing but pride in how much you have grown and change and realize that this completely new experience could not have done you any better. It may take some time, but it will eventually all be okay. You're going to cry and miss your home, but you will find a new one.
Moving away from your hometown is always going to suck, while most people move away for college, a lot of people are moved at a much earlier, more delicate age. Most people need to remember the three truths about it, and it is the most critical truths I have ever learned in my nineteen years on this planet.
