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Have you ever travelled back to a place that you went to in your childhood, and had this somewhat heavy feeling of nostalgia hit you right in the chest? Or have you ever seen something that reminded you of distant memories and smiled complacently to yourself?

I was just thinking about the fact that I am going home this upcoming Friday for the Hallmark Christmas Sale (no joke), and how recently, when I go home, this feeling hits me. My hometown is starting to not feel like my everyday place of life anymore: it is beginning to feel like a town filled with my memories. I guess what I mean is, it is still my home and always will be, but in a way, it is not my home anymore. Does that make sense?

It certainly is strange to go back to the place where I spent 18 years of my life not thinking I was ever going to feel like a stranger there. "Stranger" isn't the right word...I think a better term would be "visitor". I am a visitor in my own home. When I drive around the local Meijer's and clothing stores and when I wander downtown, everything feels...different. It feels like I am looking at everything from an outside perspective, rather than the insider's perspective that I had when I lived there. I'm not sure how I feel about this; what does it mean? And if I can't call the place of my birth my "home" anymore, where is my home?

Can I have multiple homes? What is it like for older people who move away from their homes and make new homes for themselves? I would imagine that a part of them always stays in their hometown, but doesn't it make people nervous to move away and start your life completely on your own? I'm not sure that I'm ready for this level of independence, though I keep telling myself that I am. A part of me wishes I could just live at home forever, but obviously this is not a legitimate idea.

So what is it like, to move away and start a life for yourself? And what do you think of as your "true home"?