Familiar Roads

At 9:15 this morning, I completed my last final. The semester had finally come to a close for me. It was time to say goodbye to my room, my friends, my job, and to the balance of structure and freedom that school provides me. After finishing my last shift at the bookstore, I checked out of my dorm and was on my way back home.

It was dark while I drove, so I had my music blaring to keep me awake. I sang at the top of my lungs and couldn’t help but smile. As unsettling as leaving school was, I felt so free!

I pulled up to my house and was greeted by my puppies and the familiar sound of people milling around. Of course there was no food cooked for me, so I immediately called up my best friend and forced her to go grab something to eat with me.

It is such an indescribable feeling when you are driving and you already know your way, because it is a path you have taken so many times. You don’t have to look up directions or turn on your GPS and you already know the speed limit… it is just autopilot.

Going someplace you used to go all the time after being gone for awhile is a strange feeling as well. We walked into Braum’s and it was so familiar yet it was like it didn’t remember me the way I remembered it. There were high school kids, old people, and even an old teacher of ours, but we weren’t even recognized. Is this a good thing, bad thing, or nothing at all.

Being home is a like taking a breath of fresh air. I love being able to drive aimlessly and reminisce about memories. Even when some of the memories are negative ones, there is just something about the familiarity of coming home and knowing that at one point it is where you belonged.

Let the summer begin.

❤ a girl