Hometown USA

The place where we find refuge and safety or feel secure

Our origin, birthplace, place of belonging

Pages in our photo album recording our first’s that soon turn into memories

First haircut, birthday, bicycle, broken arm, girlfriend

First day of kindergarten, fire drill, pint cartons of milk, the pledge to our flag

First time to hold a girls hand in a circle, screaming yuck but really liking it

First time to drive a car, get a job, and wonder why the bank gave us that first loan

Our childhood backyard, home base, history, memories of the corner store

A season where things were measured by the price of gas, a roll of stamps & penny candy

Where we could safely test life and play before we became adults

Playing sports, playing music, playing like couples in love and even being in plays

Until we were all expected to grow up from boys to men & girls to women

I know for some who can’t let go, Hometown still seems to owe them something

Yet others who are a little detached it is just their password on facebook

For me, it is the vibrant color in my youth that allows me to paint my life today

Where passion for knowing truth was passed on by teachers, coaches, moms & dads

Hometown was anything from perfect but it was real

Our friends, family, pets, successes & failures

Experiences giving us a glimpse of who we wanted to be & who we did not want to be

Now as we look back, the gigantic basketball court seems a little small

The initials carved into the tree seem a little silly

That first car, well, it took more power to run the speakers than it did to make it up a hill

I find myself referring to people & things as; “that old so and so”

Questions start with; “remember” & “I wonder what happened to…”

Bad memories kind of fade into the shadows of time but the thoughts of Jumping off the swing set, flying into the air & being a super hero once again are still just under the surface

Hometown, a moment on the time-line of life, a reference of being, a circle of friends & family the safe place to make mistakes & to overcome

Could it be that God’s Original Design for Hometown was like one of three bird’s nests?

The nest that either had so much comfort we never wanted to leave

The nest that had little comfort & so many stickers we couldn’t wait to leave

The nest that was so high in the air with such a beautiful view that we looked back at the nest with great honor but we had to answer the call to adventure, jump out & fly, testing & challenging all that we had been taught in and from our Hometown.

Tom Spencer www.TheWebinator.com

Send comments to TheWebinator1@Gmail.com