"Back Home Again in Indiana..."

The old saying goes..."You can never go back home again"...I beg to differ...partially. I understand what is behind the old saying in respect to how one has changed (physically, intellectually and emotionally) since moving away, so home does not feel like the home of one's youth. Things are smaller, like bedrooms, bathrooms and yards. One's relationship to their parents is changed. Adult relating to adult now, but one can still visit the childhood home and still feel like they have never moved away. It is all in the people who still live in and around the old homestead. It is the seamless picking-up-where-you-left-off-ness that makes this so.

I recently returned from a two week trip back to my childhood home. I went as a surprise for my parents and boy were they surprised. Kudos have to go out to my sisters and brothers for not leaking information about my surprise trip home. For those who grew up in a large family like I did, you know that keeping secrets can sometimes be difficult (the old grapevine effect). Thanks guys!

After my flight touched ground and I grabbed my suitcase off of the revolving conveyor belt, I headed for the car rental counter. The car I rented had Kentucky plates. I made my way to my parents' house and as I drove up the driveway my mother and two of my sisters were in the yard. My mom asked my sisters, "Who is that? We don't know anyone from Kentucky!" I pulled the car to a stop and slowly opened the door and stepped out. My mom's jaw dropped in disbelief and then closed as she broke out with a huge smile.

My dad was taking a nap when I arrived, so I had to wait to surprise him when he woke up. He woke up not too long after my arrival. He made his way out to the side porch with me secretly tagging behind him. My dad sat down on the bench as I hovered near his left side. He finally looked up and literally did a double-take and then cracked a big smile.

The two weeks back home flew by...again another old saying..."Time flies when you are having fun"...I agree with that one...totally. It was great seeing my family and friends, plus now I have lots of fodder for future blogs.