Star Wars VI: Return [...]]]> [flying across the deserts of Tatooine]
Han Solo: “I think my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big bright blur.”
Luke:        ”There’s nothing to see. I used to live here, you know.”
Han Solo: “You’re gonna die here, you know. Convenient.”

         Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi

I was listening to the songs on my computer this evening, letting them shuffle through the entire catalog and Sweet Home Alabama, by Lynyrd Skynyrd, came on. Frankly, even as a rather unemotional and detached mid-western woman, I must admit that I love that song and feel just a wee bit Southern (with a big S) whenever I hear this song. I have been known to belt it out with gusto when alone in the car or at home.

I wish I felt this way about my hometown. I try to make myself look past the the ugly bits – the monotony, the grime, the poverty, but that is all I come up with. I moved away the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school and, despite knowing these kids for 10+ years, couldn’t maintain those friendships. Those 35 miles seemed an impossible distance to we 15 year olds. It took less than 4 months before they and I had moved onto different tracks. One’s high school can seem so self-contained.

My mom also grew up there, even went to the same high school as me, and couldn’t wait to move back a few years ago. She loves the place, even while acknowledging the area’s rather severe socio-economic problems. But then, it’s still full of people that she grew up with and who have been her friends with for most of her life.

How do you feel about your hometown? or do you feel you moved too much to have one?