Town that Built Me

24 years. 

That's a long time to call a place home. And it always will be... just not quite in the same way anymore.

My parents are moving.

They sold their house in Wooster, Ohio and are moving to a condo in northern Ohio by Lake Erie.

It's weird how fast everything happened. Seeing the FOR SALE sign in front of my home made it all so real. And then the phone call. I can still hear my mom's voice through the phone, "We're moving everything this Saturday. It's sold."

That house, that home... will never be my home again. That smell, that feeling when you walk through the door and everything just feels safe and right. My special place will soon be home to someone else.

Such a strange feeling, saying goodbye to a home. I mean, it's really just concrete, wood, paint and a roof. But somehow over time it becomes so much more.

It's that haven of love, that box of memories, that fortress of peace.

I can't help but hear the Miranda Lambert song, "House that Built Me" playing on repeat in my mind.

I guess it would have to happen eventually. And I agree with my parent's decision. It's better for them to move now while they are still healthy and able to, rather then when they're old and can't remember what's Natalie's and what's Monica's, because let's be honest.. that's already a problem. ;)

But even talking myself through the sense of it all doesn't make that big lump in my throat go away. It doesn't stop the sadness.

Sometimes, you just have to cry.

I'll miss that house. And I'll miss going "home" to Wooster. Because it wasn't just that house that "built me"... it was that town. That town that raised me from birth through 4 elementary schools, middle school, high school, and then sent me off to college.

A trip down memory lane brings back the best childhood ever. Growing up in one small town and never leaving it may have seemed boring at times, but looking back it was a picture-perfect story book. I hope I can give that to my children some day.

Memories like sledding way too fast on a giant inner tube down suicide hill, buying tear-jerkers at the Shack with the money I made from selling lemonade, or sparkly rocks. Riding my bike around town, with the key to my bike lock jingling beside my frog keychain collection. Playing with the neighbor's dragon snaps. Playing with the neighbors. Sardines. Tag. Kickball. Making secret clubs. Dare devil bike crashes. My sister warned me. But I thought I was smarter than the gravel that brought me down. Walking across the street and down the hill to Beall Avenue. Christmas Run Park. Moving to the big school - Cornerstone. Giant Pixie Stix at Freedlander Pool. My red playhouse. Never stepping down from a dare. Jumped right out of that second story garage window. Our temporary condo on Highland Park and starting 3rd grade at Melrose. Loving Rugrats, overalls and pigtails. Taking my puppy for a swim in the river... she hated it. I realized why when we saw a giant snake swimming toward us! [Insert 8-year-old girl scream]. Summer gymnastics camps at the YMCA. My 4th elementary school: 4th grade at Kean. Biking to school. Alternating recess days between kickball, football, and monkey bars. Scented glitter cheeks. Walking to Buehler's for 25 cent ice cream cones. Getting my first B, ever... in music class for not paying attention during Wade in the Water. Jumping for 8 hours straight on my best friend's trampoline. Monday Fair Day. No school and way too many rides on the Zipper. Sun burns from Edgewood Track Meets. Winning the 4x100 relay. 7th grade history class: the Greeks and the Romans. My team mates pulled me (complete with toga and hair braided in a crown) around the track on a red & gold sparkly chariot built by my super-skilled dad. Notes folded like origami with pull tabs and gel pens. Rainbow Team and Civil War History. Cool kids walking to Arby's after 8th grade study hall. Trick-or-treating in the Meadows. One house gave me a King Size candy bar and another house gave me a $1 bill! Taking my puppy Ebony for walks around Cannon Drive. Her little paws slipping and sliding on the wood floor as she ran back inside. Wednesday night church activities. Amish buggies tying up their horses in the Walmart stalls. Visiting my dad at the OARDC. Paper room = dream world. Occupied for hours with paper, scissors, tape and markers. Moving to the new Gymnastics Center... with a SPRING floor! Afternoon jogs around Kinny Soccer Field. The smell of fresh cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Scooter rides to the church parking lot. My first day of high school. I wore flip-flops, disregarded the wet floor sign and (like a cartoon on a banana peel) fell on my back in front of the popular seniors. #freshmanfail. Student Council. '007 James Bond Parade Float. Success. Customizing my Myspace page with some Avril Lavigne music and a glittery pink background. Wanting to quit Geometry class... but staying because the boy who sat in front of me was so hot. Bus rides to basketball games. Bring on the braided weaves and matching sweatpants. Homecoming Dance. Always dreading that awkward, "we have the same dress" moment. Giving bathes to Ebony, watching her run around the living room rubbing her ears on the carpet, going crazy with her frizzy spiral curls. Sucking up to the WHS attendance Nazi. Friday night football games wearing his jersey as a dress. Beating Orrville! Front row spirit club. My first real job at CiCi's Pizza. All you can eat buffet...gained 10 pounds of cinnamon rolls and garlic cheesy bread. Watching movies and eating chocolate in German class. Black Friday shopping with my sisters, annual cookie bakes and sewing days. Missing half a day of school for a 1-hour orthodontist appointment... best mom ever. Snow days. Rainy-ice days. Anxiously waiting to see our school on the canceled list. Hating all the country schools for their 2-hour delays. Half-priced appetizers at Applebee's after boys basketball games. Going to Pierce's to get my last name printed on the butt of my sweatpants. Prom committee. English class - singing and dancing to "Everytime We Touch." Developing film in the dark room. Summer job at Cinemark Movies 10. Driving to school with my best friend, windows down, blasting music & drinking hot cocoa. Fireworks at Kinny Field. Brown hair. Black hair. Blonde hair. Short hair. Long hair. Crimped hair. Permed hair. Side bangs. Dinner at the Barn. Working out at the new Health Point center. My third job as a receptionist at SunTan. Free tanning and way too bronze all year round. Inevitable skin cancer. Boys lacrosse games. College applications. Scholarship applications. Painting our feet and stamping them on the wall in Yearbook class. Senior Skip Day with my best friend, shopping at the mall. Graduation parties. Camp-outs. My first car accident - almost totaled my mom's car while running late on my way to church. Acceptance letters. Friending any and all incoming Ohio State freshman.

Counting down the days until I could get out of Wooster, live in a new place with new people and exciting adventures. Moving into Morrill Tower dorms, so ready to be independent and on my own. Then a few weeks later, finding myself missing Wooster - missing the people, the places, the memories...

The first time I realized just how much I love calling Wooster, my home.