You Can Go Home Again - But It Won't Be The Same

I moved away from my hometown twenty-four years ago. Later, I emigrated to the United States. Naturally, during my visits to the Old Country I stayed at my parents' house. For a long time I still recognized many people. They were family friends, parents of my class mates or simply town figures. But over time, many have died or are too old to venture outdoors anymore. As I sat in an ice cafe last summer I realized that I didn't know any of its customers anymore. I have become a stranger in my hometown. Even my parents don't live at home anymore, but now reside in a nursing home. It probably won't be much longer before their house will be sold.
Of course, I still have many friends in the area but most of them live in other towns. Perhaps I have simply outgrown my town and am now embrazing a larger circle of friends and acquaintances than before. After all, a home is more than bricks and walls. A home is where we are loved and accepted for who we are, no matter what town we happen to be in.