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Hometown
By Thomas Spencer
The place where we find refuge and safety or feel secure,
Our origin, birthplace, place of belonging,
Pages in our photo album recording our first’s that soon turn into memories:
1st haircut, birthday, bicycle, broken arm, girlfriend…
1st day of kindergarten, fire drill, pint cartons of milk, the pledge to our flag…
1st time to hold a girls hand in a circle, screaming yuck but really liking it…
1st time to drive a car, get a job, and wonder why the bank gave us that first loan.
Our childhood backyard, home base, history, memories of the corner store,
A season where things were measured by the price of gas, a roll of stamps & penny candy,
Where we could safely test life and play before we became adults;
Playing sports, playing music, playing like couples in love and even being in plays,
Until we were all expected to grow up from boys to men & girls to women
I know for some who can’t let go, Hometown still seems to owe them something…
Yet others who are a little detached it is just their password on facebook,
For me, it is the vibrant color in my youth that allows me to paint my life today…
It was where passion for knowing truth was passed on by teachers, coaches, moms & dads.
Hometown was anything from perfect but it was real…
Our friends, family, pets, successes & failures…
Experiences that gave us a glimpse of who we wanted to be & who we did not want to be.
Now as we look back, the gigantic basketball court seems much smaller…
The initials carved into the tree seem a little silly…
That first car, well, it took more power to run the speakers than it did to make it up a hill.
I find myself referring to people & things as; “that old so and so”…
Questions start with; “Remember…” & “I wonder what happened to…”
Bad memories kind of fade into the shadows of time – but the thoughts of Jumping off the swing set, flying into the air & being a super hero once again are still just under the surface!
Hometown, a moment on the timeline of life, a reference of being, a circle of friends & family…
And a safe place to make mistakes & to overcome.
Could it be that God’s Original Design for Hometown was like one of three bird’s nests?
The nest that either had so much comfort we never wanted to leave…
The nest that had little comfort & so many stickers we couldn’t wait to leave…
The nest that was so high in the air with such a beautiful view that we looked back at the nest with great honor but we had to answer the call to adventure to jump out & fly, testing & challenging all that we had been taught in our Hometown.
Thomas Spencer
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