Latitude: 33.270554 | Longitude: -79.898094đź“Ť
photos by me
There is an old saying, “home is where the heart is” and as I grow older it becomes more true. Macedonia, South Carolina is where I consider home to be. A small country town about 45 minutes north of Charleston where there are more churches than stop lights and one corner store that services the communities cars, hearts, and appetites.
Sounds great doesn’t it, but for all that home had to give it couldn’t suppress my desire to see what else the world had to offer. I ended up leaving home at the age of 18 to join the military after graduating from high school because I knew the town of Macedonia wasn’t big enough for me anymore.
For the past 11 years I’ve been able to visit on roughly 10 occasions for a few days at a time. In the beginning a few days was more than enough since boredom comes out of nowhere rather quickly in a small town.
During the first five of those years I returned home to see nothing had really changed. Everyone was going through the motions of their daily lives that had mirrored the last 10 years or so. This meant after catching up with my family and close friends I would be itching to venture back out into the world.
That isn’t the case anymore. The small town that seemed to stand still for many years is now changing at a pace that saddens me a bit.
With each new visit I’m reminded of the cycle of life as I learn someone from my childhood has passed away to then be told a friend of mine has welcomed a new baby into the world. The younger me was ok with receiving those updates over the phone, but the older me now understands the weight of each message.
Those close to me are getting older by the day. Losing my grandfather last year really began to put things into perspective along with a podcast that had a sobering message.
The guest said to stop telling ourselves that we have “years” left with someone if we only see them once in a blue moon. In reality you can probably count the times you will see them before they are gone on your two hands.
Let’s use myself as an example. I’m usually able to make it home once a year. So if I’m lucky enough to have my parents around for the next 10 years I can expect to see them 10 more times. That's it. How would that line of thought change how you spend those precious moments with people close to you? Thinking this way really makes you value the time with your loved ones as each visit means so much.
With that being said it’s clear the invisible pull from home is making it tougher to leave now when I visit. Whether that pull is enough to bring me home for good remains to be seen.
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