Being in Two Places at Once

a love letter to my hometown.

Up until I moved away to college, I had only known one place. I’ve lived in the same town for my entire life. The same, small, little town with less than 10,000 people and a downtown that stretches down one road. When I was growing up, I never really found the beauty of where I lived. I never appreciated that I lived so close to the beach and was just a couple of hours away from the mountains. I never understood what it really meant to come from a small community where you knew at least one person everywhere you went. It wasn’t until I left when I realized how much it impacted my life and who I have become.

To give you an idea of what my town and the surrounding areas look like, I would have to equate it to Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. There’s various one of a kind shops and restaurants lining the street, a movie theater in one corner and a library in the other, cute houses of different shapes and sizes, a hole in the wall saloon that no one really pays attention to until you get your first fake id and in the middle of it all, there is a questionable park with a white and often vacant gazebo. Surrounding areas include beautiful vineyards that seem to go on for miles and wide open fields that seem like a horses dream. Every street corner is marked with memories of my adolescence and youth. Familiar faces and mindless travels run through my mind every where I go. There is no better feeling than driving down the backroads or over the pass to the coast, blasting music and taking in the place around you and all the wide open space. It’s so beautiful. There is a feeling of peace and intense love I feel every time I come home.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking, “No wonder you went out of state for college”.  If you had asked senior year me if I was ready to leave and experience a new place, I would have said hell yes. You couldn’t have gotten me out of here fast enough. While this was true then, my mindset has significantly changed. Yes, this is me admitting that I actually miss my hometown. Sue me. I never thought it would happen either. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with the decision that I made and I wouldn’t change it for the world because Seattle and the people I have met there have been such an extraordinary addition to my life, but I would have never found this love and appreciation for my home if I had never left. I needed to experience what the world was offering me and continue to grow as a person. I knew growth for me wasn’t in my hometown anymore as it may be for some people. Going to college in a different state has made me realize that I can’t grow here or at least not right now.

It’s not just the physical place that makes my hometown so special to me, but it's the people in it too. The majority of my family still lives here or somewhere near it and although most of the friends that I have made here have all grown up and moved away, there is a bond between us that is almost unbreakable. Some of them I have grown up with since preschool and others I can't imagine my life without. We pick up right where we left off every time we see each other and the love I feel towards them is inexplicable. Those people have really become like family. Some of my closest and most genuine friendships have come from the people I have met growing up in that town. To all those people, whether we talk everyday or haven’t seen each other in years, thank you. You've changed my life. You have shaped me into who I am now and taught me things about myself that I would never have discovered if I hadn’t met you. I am forever grateful for that.

Leaving my home, my family and friends never gets old. There is not plane ride back to school where I am not teary eyed or feeling a bit melancholy about leaving. Every time I go back home I think what it would be like I had never left. What if I had stayed? What if I came back? Then I am reminded that growth makes us uncomfortable and it is for me, but I know deep down I need to do it and push myself out of my comfort zone. My hometown and quite frankly all of California will always be a part of me I carry around. I take such pride to say where I'm from and I think the people who are from here truly know how amazing and special it really is. My heart beats for this place and it always will. I am so lucky to say I love going home to a place that is just as incredible as the place I live in now. Until I return, I love you, California's central coast. Please take care of my people.

With love,

Katie