A trip home

Yesterday I got to go back to my hometown. This isn't exactly a rare event...after all I only live 40 minutes away. However, yesterday's trip was different. My husband and JR had gone up so that JR could participate in a rocket class. He got to build a rocket and then launch it...he had a blast (literally, sorry couldn't resist)! This weekend is also a winter festival where all of the downtown shops are open and with discounts, and many community organizations have little booths throughout as well. I love my hometown. It could not be more like a Normal Rockwell painting. It's historic and cozy, and well, it's home. I was also the eighth generation of my family to live there, and when I married my husband and left, it was somewhat by kicking and screaming. I couldn't wait until our life circumstances changed and I could move back home. Our life circumstances changed all right, of course not at all like I had envisioned, and of course now I couldn't imagine leaving this cozy little town that I now call home, and the friends that have become our own little family here in town. Anyway, yesterday my mom wanted to keep the younger two kids while I did some shopping throughout town. Not being a shopper I wandered only briefly, but then I decided to just drive around town. We are having an indian summer, and my little hometown could not have been more quaint and cozy. Although I'm there at least once a month, my parents now live outside of town and I seldom get to go into town, and I almost never get to do it by myself. In some regards I couldn't believe how much things have changed in just the few years since I've been gone (especially since the little town I live in now has changed almost not at all). I enjoyed driving through housing developments where I spent so much time visiting friends. I remember I used to be able to name who lived in each house...another benefit of a small town. After all these years though, I could only remember where my good friends lived. With the others, I would think, "Oh that's where the Smiths lived," then see another house and think, "Or was it that one?" It was amazing to me the feelings and memories that came back to me as I drove though the town, and it was also amazing to me the things I couldn't quite recall anymore. I realized we never really can ever go back home again. At the same time, it helped me to feel even more peaceful about the life I currently have...it's my life and I get to share it with my amazing family!