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| Maryville, Tennessee (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
H-Hometown:
In my college creative writing course, my professor Dr. Robert Drake once told us, "Everybody's from somewhere."
He was responding in part to my statement on a self-introduction essay (and perhaps others said it as well) that I'd lived so many places that I didn't feel like I was from any one particular place. Later I pondered this coming up with the interpretation that the question of "where are you from" firstly comes down to how the question is asked. Context is everything so one same answer doesn't always work every time the question is asked.
So I guess I'll go with what I feel in my heart and soul at this time in my life. My hometown is Maryville, Tennessee. It's in the eastern part of the state. I haven't lived there for nearly 25 years, but it's a place that has felt more like home to me than where I've been living since I left Maryville.
Los Angeles is where I live now, but my heart yearns for elsewhere. Not necessarily in Tennessee. Maybe somewhere else in the East. Somewhere closer to my kids, my grandkids, and most everyone else I know. So where is my hometown? The answer can be complicated at times and at other times very easy. Then other times I might have to think about it for a while.
Do you feel at home where you live now? How many places have you lived in your life? What keeps you from moving to somewhere other than where you are now?
