Home

I'm leaving for Wake Forest tomorrow morning to visit my parents, meet up with a friend I haven't seen in way too long, and visit someone in the hospital. Depending on who I'm talking to or the mood I'm in, I'll either say "I'm going home," or "I'm going to visit my parents," or "I'm going to Wake Forest." I've moved around so many times during the past two years that I have many "homes." I lived in Asheville from 2005 until 2007. Then I moved to Chapel Hill, only to move to Lebanon, CT, for three months during the summer of 2008. My wandering feet took me back to Chapel Hill, where I finished school, then to Dallas for another short period of time while I interned with The Dallas Morning News. In August, I "moved" back into my parents house for a few days, only to learn that I got the job in Roanoke, VA, where I moved in September of last year. It's been a little insane.

Roanoke is slowly starting to feel like home. With every small thing I buy for the apartment, every picture I hang on my walls, every connection I make in this city, it's starting to feel more like where I belong. But, North Carolina feels like home, too: Wake Forest AND Chapel Hill. But North Carolina feels like home in a different way. I'm always happy to come back to my friends and boyfriend in Roanoke, but I'm usually left with this emptiness inside of me upon leaving NC. Everything is changing, mostly for the better. I'm losing old friends, some out of circumstance and some just because we've outgrown each other, and making new ones. I could see Roanoke being the place where I get married and raise my kids. Maybe this emotion smoothie is just a by-product of having too many temporary homes in such a short period of time.

Either way, I AM going home tomorrow. My parent's house will always be my home. And, when I come back to Roanoke, I will be coming home, too. Home IS where the heart is, and who says my heart can't defy the laws of physics? Who says my hear can't be somewhere that I'm not? It's definitely done it before.