You know that cliche, you can never go home again...I am not sure I buy it. Sure, I understand that when you grow up and leave your childhood home and family, things change and are never the "same" but I truly believe you can still have that "feeling" of home no matter where you are in life. Maybe I feel this way because I have moved so many times in my life I don't truly have "one" childhood home. If you ask me where I'm from I might say Ponca City, OK or perhaps Katy,TX or maybe even Austin. However, if you ask me where did I grow up I would say Lake Charles, LA because that's where I spent 1st through 8th grade and I truly felt like my childhood was spent there. Going "home" at college was strange at first because my parents moved from Katy to Ponca City right after my senior year of college. So my first summer after college was not spent in my high school home, but in my "hometown" that I hadn't lived in for 15 years.
Despite all this moving around, I never felt like I wasn't at home when I would go back to be with my family. Wherever my parents and brother were, that was home. Same with church homes; my family has belonged to three churches (that I can actually remember) and I consider them all to my church home. I still consider FUMC of Ponca City my church home, not because my parents live there (because they don't anymore) but because of the people and the family I gained there.
I have always been close to my family and no matter where we are or what we are doing, I feel love. Now, we have plenty of issues and fights - we are all four very moody people! :) (I'm the ranking queen of moodiness myself) We aren't a picture-perfect family that gets along all the time. BUT we are very close and enjoy spending time together. I think that's why my brother and I have gotten closer to each other and to our parents since we have both left home. We have worked hard at intentionally spending time with our parents and not wanting to drift apart.
Now, back to my entry's title - you CAN go home again. I have always had trouble with change and growing up. I am really enjoying being an adult and living an independent life, but I often miss just being a kid. This weekend trip to Oklahoma with my family reminded me that I'll always have a piece of my childhood with me. It's never gone completely. Driving to Oklahoma with my family reminded me of the many car trips and vacations we took in the past. Even though I am a third year teacher and my brother is a junior, highly successful chemical engineer major at OSU, we easily slipped back into our roles of annoying siblings. It was funny to laugh at all the little quirks my parents still have (my dad's obsession with making good time or my mom's ability to crack herself up) Change is inevitable, but it is comforting me to know that some things don't change even after all these years.
I know soon my brother and I will get married, have kids and start our own families. I hope that we can pass our love for family onto our own families one day. I want my kids to know that they can always come home if they are 18 or 50. My home today is not the same as it was when I was ten, but I always know I can go home.
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