You can Never Go Home Again

Jay, the kids, and I just got home and settled from our vacation. We went to a family reunion for his side of the family in South Carolina, then on up into northern Virginia.

Northern Virginia is where Jay and I met. Married. Had Dathon. And, lived for 3 years while Jay was in the Marines. We moved away to Dallas for 4 years, then on to Kansas City for 18 months, but returned again to Northern Virginia. This time we bought our first house. We stayed in Northern Virginia for 3 years and moved on to Florida, where we have been for the past *almost* 7 years.

This was our first time going back since we moved to Florida. Lots of things were the same as we remembered them. Many more weren't.

When Jay I lived in Virgina, he took "back roads" between where we lived and where he worked. Along the "back roads" is a TINY town surrounded by horse farms. In the town are several historical markers that tell the story of the town and its people. We always meant to stop and read them when we lived there. But, life seemed to busy.

While on vacation, Jay and I decided to try and find the building that he used to work in. Found it. So we decided to see if we could find the back roads that he used to drive and find our way back "home". Found that too. And along the way was that tiny little town. This time we were on vacation. We stopped. We read the signs. What a rich and beautiful history that town has. We had ice cream at the town ice cram parlor. The parlor featured ice cream dishes named after the people of the town. Jay and I both had a "Rick's Mix". Vanilla Ice Cream, Hot Fudge, Heath Bar bits. I have no idea who "Rick" is, but based on the treat named after him, I'd guess he is quite the character.

All the while we were driving from place to place to see what was still there and what had changed, we realized, that even if we wanted to moved back it wouldn't be the same. So much had changed. The traffic changed. The people changed. The roadways changed.

We changed. So...No, you can never go home again. But that isn't always a bad thing.