I remember when I was in high school and I couldn't wait to get out of St. Louis. I wanted to get away and go away and never turn back. I wanted to leave the memories behind and start out new. I wanted a new chance and a new life.
It was ironic, then, that I came back to St. Louis for law school. I came back a different person to a different set of circumstances. I met new friends, I lived in a new place. I came back to St. Louis but not back to the life I left. And when law school was over, I ventured out again.
Life took me south, to the beach, to the sea. I packed up my car and packed up my dog and headed away from the cold, and into the sun. Florida, and my first job, and my first adventure as an adult. Away I flew, far away from home. But life and St. Louis were not yet done for me. A long distance romance with someone from back home. Back in St. Louis. Over time it became clear that St. Louis would be my destination.
So here I sit, in St. Louis. Near my childhood home and yet, so far removed from that time. I have made my life and my career. I have made my family and my resolve. I have made friends and kept friends and changed friends through the years. I have made myself who I am today and I found out who I am along the way.
Because sometimes you have to leave to come home again; wherever that home is for you. Sometimes you have to venture out to realize that what you are and what you need is with you no matter your location. Sometimes it takes that time to leave to realize you want to return. Not back to where you were before, but back to an old place with a new perspective and a new sense of self. There are others who leave to see what it is that life has to offer and stay away forever.
And what you realize along the way and is that you make the choice to be the best of who you are, wherever it is that you may land. What you realize along the way is that your home is with you always. What you realize along the way is that your family and your friends, your love and your charm, your wit and your happiness are yours to take along, wherever the road may lead, away from home or back again.
After all, this is the life.
Love,
a
It was ironic, then, that I came back to St. Louis for law school. I came back a different person to a different set of circumstances. I met new friends, I lived in a new place. I came back to St. Louis but not back to the life I left. And when law school was over, I ventured out again.
Life took me south, to the beach, to the sea. I packed up my car and packed up my dog and headed away from the cold, and into the sun. Florida, and my first job, and my first adventure as an adult. Away I flew, far away from home. But life and St. Louis were not yet done for me. A long distance romance with someone from back home. Back in St. Louis. Over time it became clear that St. Louis would be my destination.
So here I sit, in St. Louis. Near my childhood home and yet, so far removed from that time. I have made my life and my career. I have made my family and my resolve. I have made friends and kept friends and changed friends through the years. I have made myself who I am today and I found out who I am along the way.
Because sometimes you have to leave to come home again; wherever that home is for you. Sometimes you have to venture out to realize that what you are and what you need is with you no matter your location. Sometimes it takes that time to leave to realize you want to return. Not back to where you were before, but back to an old place with a new perspective and a new sense of self. There are others who leave to see what it is that life has to offer and stay away forever.
And what you realize along the way and is that you make the choice to be the best of who you are, wherever it is that you may land. What you realize along the way is that your home is with you always. What you realize along the way is that your family and your friends, your love and your charm, your wit and your happiness are yours to take along, wherever the road may lead, away from home or back again.
After all, this is the life.
Love,
a
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