Most summers, my family takes a road trip to the Midwest. We visit family and friends for a couple weeks, returning to places and people who have been important to us through the years. We spend our time doing things we always do (visiting beloved people, biking favorite trails, eating at long-loved restaurants) as well as making new discoveries (exploring new places to bike, trying new eateries and museums, connecting with newer friends).
It feeds my soul to be back in the places I grew up, revisit the towns where I spent my early adult years, enjoy hospitality in the homes of people I love who I don’t see often enough, and reconnect with a part of the country that has shaped who I am. I treasure the beauty of the farms and plains and forests each summer, when the sun is hot and the sky is huge above me. I love visiting the campus where I went to college, seeing the changes and recalling what it was like to be a student all those years ago. I enjoy spending time with people who shared life with me in the past, catching up on what is happening now.
Coming back to my home in Lemont is always bittersweet. After a couple weeks of travel, it is good to not live out of a suitcase, to be back in my own house, cook in my own kitchen, and get back to the usual routine. It is especially good to see my dogs again, despite all the shedding. Yet, there is a particular sadness for me in leaving those places and people. I am homesick for places I that used to be home, and people who used to be part of my daily life.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my home and my life in central PA. There are people and places that mean the world to me here, too. I get to live here all the time and it is a joy to return home. This place and the people I share it with also shape who I am. I am grateful for the variety of places I have lived, the wonderful and diverse people who are part of my life from each place, and the opportunity to revisit and reconnect. And I am grateful that both here in PA and in the Midwest, I am able to go home again.
May you find joy and rest in the places you visit and the places you live, today and always.
Peace,
Alicia