A couple weeks ago, I left home to do some traveling. Guess where I ended up? Home. Confused yet? Let me explain. As a college student, I feel like I have two places I call Home.
Back Home again, in Indiana...
The first of these is the area where I grew up (for me, this is small town Indiana.) I still have a bedroom there, full to the brim with memories from childhood and high school. When I go back to spend a weekend or a holiday, my mom cooks me dinner, and we go on bike rides and talk about how much Franklin is changing and growing as a city. Franklin-home is a comfortable haven, full of memories from friends and times past, reminiscing, and spending time with family and old friends.
However, it's been four years since I've spent any significant amount of time living in Franklin. It seems like every time I go back, there's something that's been built (or worse, torn down) that has changed the familiar landscape of my past into something new and unknown. My roots are in Indiana (and I will always swear my allegiance to Indiana tomatoes and corn over Ohio's!) but I don't know if my heart is there anymore.
old roomies and I outside our humble abode in Clifton.
Home #2, is obviously Cincinnati. I didn't grow up here, but I've done a lot of exploring and experiencing in this city over the last four years. People are usually surprised to find that I didn't actually grow up here. I feel really lucky that Cincy has so much to offer, and that I've been able to burst the Clifton bubble and get into the rest of the city. I feel connected here in a way that I didn't back in Indiana. Maybe it's the history, the architecture, the events, or even the people... but this city has a tangible hold on my heart.
Even so, it's not like I grew up here. So in a way, it's kind of strange to have two places that I feel quasi-connected to. Two Homes. I am certain that I am not alone in this feeling. I know when I graduate that I will want to get out of town and explore the rest of the country in a way that I haven't yet had the opportunity to. But will I ultimately end up in Cincinnati?
For now, the answer appears to be "yes."