I think most kids have a favorite piece of clothing that they like to wear when they're little. Mine just so happened to be a purple dress with white flowers around the waist. I wore it to my first, and last, Daddy Daughter dance with my dad in Kindergarten. I wore that dress to his funeral. I wore that dress on picture day in 1st grade...and in second grade. Any time my mom would let me wear it, I would. I loved that dress, and it was a fancy dress to me, and I felt pretty wearing it. Well, the day came when the dress no longer fit. I outgrew it. Caroline now plays dress up in that dress, and it's like looking back in time since she and I look so much alike. I don't know whether we're in 2013 or 1997. I've come to realize these last few months that I've kind of outgrown my hometown, Marietta.
When I came to UGA, people always said you couldn't go to school here and not spend a summer in Athens, at which I rolled my eyes and thought "yea right." Well, actually, they were right. Even finishing freshman year, and sophomore year, I didn't think I'd spend a summer here. A lot of that had to do with the boyfriend I had at home, but I also didn't think I could spend more time away from my family than I already was. Funny thing is, now thinking about spending the summer in Marietta makes me cringe. Last summer was, well, miserable. None of my friends were in Marietta: some were abroad, scattered across the country in their hometowns, and a lot were in Athens. Pair with that a broken heart and well, I hated it. It was lonely and boring, but it did give me a great chance to spend time with Mom and G. Caroline and Drew also became my best friends since I spent the majority of the summer with them (some may call it sad, I call it being an aunt.) I also got to spend a lot of time with Jackie and grow closer, which is great.
Marietta holds a lot of memories- good and bad. To think I never wanted to leave that town and now I don't want to go back. I wish I could transport my house and my family to Athens. Granted, I do always breathe a sigh of relief as I drive through the back roads of Kennesaw Mountain and the battlefields because it means I'm home, and it's what I know. I go to be with my family, and that's all that keeps me in Marietta, which is fine because we all know I'd die without the love, support, and laughter that my family supplies me with.
My heart is in Athens, GA- a place I certainly would never have expected it to be. I love this town and this campus so much that I want to go to graduate school here. It's funny because I do like this location because it's not to far from home, but to me, home is where my family is. There are certain comforts of my house, the big blue house I've lived in since I was 3. But we don't take the possessions of this world with us (now I know I won't feel that way when it comes time to leave that house, but I digress). In thinking about grad school I don't want to go anywhere too far from home, but we have this magnet that sits on the fridge at home that says, "Home is Where Your Mom is," and that's really what I mean when I say I don't want to go too far from home. I'm a Mama's girl and I take comfort knowing she can come visit me and go home all within one day.
Marietta holds a lot of memories for me, it's where I grew up, and I've lived there my whole life, but my heart is in Athens. And just like that purple dress, I think I've outgrown it and it's time to go on to bigger and better things and places (even though Athens is smaller!).
Smile, God loves you!
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