A Place I Use To Call Home

Where I come from is not a place I talk about. Where I come from is a place I don't remember. Where I come from is a distant memory.

My memories of my hometown, the place where I was born and raised are fading away never to return. My heart longs for the days of fresh summer air, long winter nights and fun times with friends and family.

I long to return to the place, the town I missed for the past ten years. I long to return to a place where I felt happy. I long to see my parents, brother and sister. I long to be the carefree girl I use to be.

Living in the city is no fun anymore, the noise of the city is getting to me, slowly ever so slowly, I'm, losing my mind.

There was a time when I loved the city, that time has long since passed. The city is not what I want anymore. I'm tired of the fast pace lifestyle the city offers. I'm tired of the pretentious people who live in the city. I'm sick and tired of it all. I just want to go home.

Cherry Hill, the name is as beautiful as the town, the little bits I remember. What do I remember about Cherry Hill is the beautiful mountains, the lush forest, the crystal clear lake and of course the world famous cherries which Cherry Hill is famous for.

Every now and then I take out my photo album and look at the pictures trying to remember the faces of my parents, brother and sister. I look at the pictures of myself smiling with my friends.

I don't recognize this person I use to be. I don't recognize the person I am today. I'm a shell of the person I once was. These pictures are a reminder of what I long for, the person I want to be again.

Ten years ago, I left Cherry Hill because I didn't want to live in a small town anymore. I felt like Cherry Hill was suffocating me. I needed to leave to be on my own. I wanted to go on a big adventure to live in a city where I knew nobody and the people didn't know me.

I came to Los Angeles, city of angels to find myself, to live my dream to make something of myself but in those ten years I found that living in Los Angeles was nothing but heartbreak.

I grew out of my dreams. I grew out go the little girl who dreamed of making it in Hollywood. I grew into a person that wants a simple life in the town she all but forgot. A town she ran away from and vow never to come back.

I'm that stupid girl, Lexie is my name who believed a city has so much to offer then my beautiful town of Cherry Hill. I believed I found myself when I moved to Los Angeles. I was wrong, I was dead wrong.

L.A. offered me nothing. I believed all my problems would be solved in L.A. I never believed I would struggle this much. In ten years I amounted to nothing.

I quit job after job in hopes of landing my dream job as a journalist. I never could break through. I worked in jobs that never offered me anything but a paycheck. I wrote stories that never helped anyone or any caused I believed in. The pieces I wrote were garbage.

Summer is over and from what I remember the fall festival is about to begin. I miss the fall festival, the food, the games, the apple picking and the people.

How much do I miss the people of Cherry Hill? The people of Cherry Hill are kind, caring and generous. They always take time out of their busy schedule to help their neighbor even a stranger.

I remember a time when my father was in a car accident, the whole town rally to help my mother cook, took me, my brother and sister to school brought us back home and even helped my mother pay the bills. I miss that small town help. You can't get that kind of help in the city.

The things we take for granted are the things you miss the most. I took a lot of things for granted growing up. Now I wish to take it all back.

I want to go back to Cherry Hill and sit on the bench at the park. I want to go to the beautiful lake and ride in my parent's boat. I want to go to Main Street to visit the shops. I want to go to the diner and drink the best milk shake in the world but most of all I want to see my parents, give them a hug and tell them I'm sorry for leaving.

Since I haven't been to Cherry Hill in ten years, I've been dreaming about how the town looks like today. I wonder if all the things I mention are still running smoothly. I wonder if new stores have built along Main Street, if the park is bigger, if the schools have more kids, if the streets are lined with beautiful flowers, if the big tree in Main Street is still there. All these things are in my heart, I wish to see.

I can't believe I didn't understand how much I missed Cherry Hill. I've been content with my life but never imagined I would miss Cherry Hill this much. The few friends I met were all born and raised in the L.A. They all love city life. A small town for them will suffocate them like the city is suffocating me.

City life has drained me completely. It's a life that has come to an end. I pack all my belongings, break my lease on my apartment and finally leave the city.

I'm in the bus terminal, just bought my one-way ticket home. I'm both excited and nervous. I don't know how my parents are going to react to me coming home.

So, I'm boarding the bus bounded for Cherry Hill. The drive to Cherry Hill is 4 to 5 hours. It's a long way but it gives me time to think about a lot of things like what I'm going to say to my parents. I hope they are not mad at me for not coming home all these years.

Finally, I made it to Cherry Hill, to my amazement Cherry Hill looks the same. I get off the bus and begin the walk to my house.

Cherry Hill is still the same as in my pictures. The big tree is still in Main Street. The stores are still open and beautiful as ever. The diner is in the same place since the last time I was here.

The park and the flowers lining the streets are still beautiful as before. I still can't fathom why I left. As I'm nearing my parents home the butterflies are rumbling in my stomach.

I round the corner to my parent's house and there it is. The home I missed so much. I walk up to the house and on instinct my mother looks up. She sees me. I run to my mom and give her a hug.

I begin to cry. "Welcome home Lexie." I'm finally home where I belong.