So much of who you are and what you could have been start from where you came from. I know a lot of people aren't proud of where they came from or they're embarrassed of their hometown. I wouldn't say I feel that way. I'm not proud of my town but I'm not embarrassed either. I grew up in a small town outside of our State Capital, went to an average sized public school, and did the cliche things everyone did growing up (soccer at age 4 and ballet until middle school).
But I can't help and think about what my life would be and who I would be if I would not have grown up in the place where I did. The question of Nature vs Nurture is interesting on its own, but even more interesting is how the nurture would differ if nature was changed. Who I am and who I will be all depends on who I was.
To my hometown,
It blows my mind that I spent the first 18 years of my life with you each day. Now I'm in my second year of college and I don't get to see you very often. I'm so lucky that each morning I got to wake up and experience what you have to offer. One word to describe you: comfort. If I have learned anything since moving out it's this, no couch is as comfortable as the one you have at home. I couldn't tell you why, but it just is. Everything is comfortable in the house and city you grew up in. The hop in my step when I walk the front porch steps is so routine. I don't even look to reach to open the cabinet because I know exactly where it is. I forget I'm even driving when I go to the store because I have taken that path at least 1,000 times. Nothing is a sweet as your sunset. I feel like a parade goes through my heart when I get off the interstate exist after not seeing you for months. Sitting in silence with you sometimes is more meaningful than my most joyous moments in my new city.
All of these things are taken for granted.
Thank you, my hometown. You have made me who I am and will continue to shape who I will be in the future. You taught me that my fireplace is a blessing, and the music from my piano is a luxury. From my hometown, I have learned so many things. I've learned I'm really lucky. Really lucky.
Growing up in a place considered a dual impoverished/rural/suburban area made me realize to accept people for who they are and that everyone is entitled to a civil conversation with kindness, regardless of how they look or how they act. That's something that I would have never gotten out of my college education. That is something I am fortunate enough to have lived and learned. Thank you, Springfield, Tennessee.
