Jared sends this with one month to go. Many, many people can't wait for his return---myself included.
It was a place where my father was born and raised. A place where the majority of my friends and their families where born and raised. Where we all grew up living less than a mile from each other. The place where you could just stop by a friend's house and walk on in. If your friend was not there you could hang out and talk to his family for a bit and then leave. A place where no one used to lock their back doors.
It was a place where your parents, met, fell in love, raised a family and still live.
It was a place where your 10th grade math teacher had been taught by your Grandmother, then subsequently taught your father, all your siblings and then eventually, you. A place where you wore the same jersey your brother wore when he played for the varsity team. A place where generations of one family had all walked on to the same field and played their hearts out.
It was where the first twelve years of schooling all took place within less than a quarter mile of where you lived. Where the manager of the local hardware store knew everyone in your immediate and extended family by first name. A place where, at 15, you could walk into a liquor store, order a case of beer and put it on your Dad's charge account without showing proof of ID. It was a place where you and all your buddies worked part-time jobs at the local shops downtown every summer.
It was a place that had all the strange, but special, characters roaming around that are known to anyone and everyone by a nickname. At any given time you could possibly encounter Shorty, The Cat Lady, That Bum Gary, Bernie, or many others.
It was a place where there was a developed waterfront, a zoo, an amphitheater for summer concerts, several lakes, a park, historic sites and re-created Swedish and American Indian villages. You could take canoe rides through the raceway out to Sunset and just float all day in the sun.
It was a place where you buried a few of your childhood friends way too early...but their memories have never left you.
It was the place you could not wait to leave and swore you would never return to. It was THE place you returned to whenever you got some free time to come home. A place where you and all your friends would meet up over Christmas and Spring break to drink beers and catch up.
After a few years you realize it's the place that's always anchored you and the grass is not always greener. It's the place you've always called home even though you haven't spent more than 30 days there in the last five years.
It's a place that you longed for during an entire year full of fear. A place that you told everyone about, every chance you got, because it made you forget about where you were and what you were actually doing.
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