Home

The Start

I was born in Andalusia Alabama and I lived there until I was in second grade, when my family moved into my late great grandmother’s house. The house was located in a very small town named Honoraville. To give you a proper example of the size, the only businesses in Honoraville are The Quick-Stop gas station, a post office, and a volunteer fire department. The rest of the town is corn fields, pastures, farms, and country neighbors.

The Life

Our home in Honoraville was put up on 2 acres of property: it had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a huge backyard which we used to raise our animals. We had 30+ chickens, 8+ rabbits, 4 cats, 3 dogs, 2 miniature potbelly pigs, 2 ducks, 1 goose, 1 pheasant, and 1 pygmy goat. We did not raise to kill, they were all pets, and the most we did was eat fresh laid eggs. A short distance down the road was our family-owned private pond. We would go camping and fishing there a lot. Our next door neighbor was a relative, as were the other 8 residents living on my street. This was the type of town where you don’t feel the need to lock your doors, everyone is civil and down to earth. Good ole country folk call this place home.

The Town Over

Small town Honoraville lies on the outskirts of a bigger but still small town, called Greenville. Greenville is where we would go to buy groceries, get fast food, and it is where I went to school. The drive from my house to school was a regular 20 minutes. Greenville is just as quaint as Honoraville but it has several more people, and several more establishments. My two cousins live in Greenville next to my grandparents. My brother and my nephews live there as well. It is safe to say the heart of my family beats in Southern Alabama.

The Move

We stayed in our home in Honoraville/Greenville until I finished middle school. The high school in Greenville has a bad rep, and family tensions were getting high, so we packed up and came to Florida. The move was the best thing that could have happened to us. Since we left, I attended an A+ high school, problems with family have smoothed over, and my mom and I are more happy than ever.

The Longing

Moving was the best thing we did, but it hasn’t stopped us from being homesick. My mom and I often find ourselves reminiscing about home. We talk about our animals, our pond, the huge pecan trees in our yard, the magnolia tree I would always climb. I notice a twinkle in my mother’s eye when she starts talking about visiting her grandparents there when she was a child. Neither of us want to live there, but we both want to go home.

A Poem

Every summer since the move, I go home to stay a week at my grandmas so I can see family and friends. I wrote this, the summer between my freshman and sophomore year

I packed a bag for my grandmas,

I was homesick again.

I stayed only a week,

But I didn’t want it to end.

All the boys drive a truck,

Impressing girls, getting stuck.

And when we went out fishing-

I felt at home again.

Although I might live, by the oceanside,

I will come home, just give it time.