When you realize you were home all along...

I don’t really know what spurred it on, maybe it was turning 40, but I recently felt very compelled to go visit my hometown that I haven’t been to in nearly 25 years. I’ve been craving reliving where I grew up. The memories in the two houses I spent most of my childhood. The streets I walked as a child. The pool I played in with my siblings. The driveway we rode our bikes on. The church building we attended. Holidays with my Mamaw and Papaw (on both sides.) There is SO MUCH I needed to see. And I’m so grateful I did. Having Halee and Austin there made it that much more rewarding.

But I realized something I didn’t know when I set out for home. Home was there all along. When we moved to Oregon I had it my head that I left so much behind. But that’s not really true. It’s not the “places” that made Georgia my home. It’s the people. It’s my mom and dad, my grandparents, my friends. I would drive by these wonderful places I lived but until I visited my best friend Sarah, my aunt, my uncle, friends of our family....that’s where the real reward was found. Like a hidden gem. 

I’m thankful to be home in Oregon but both Oregon and Georgia have my heart because I’ll be home either way.