Lots of times in our lives we say to ourselves "I hate my hometown." Do we really, though? I mean sure, there are all the years you were forced to read books you didn't choose there. Maybe your first crush, first heartbreak, first kiss, first time partying. The thing is we all carry pieces of our hometown with us everywhere we go in this world. Well, I come from Dedham Massachusetts, a small suburban town just outside the city of Boston.

Most of the time, without even realizing it. I've seen lots of places in my short 21 years, and I can see many traits of people from where I came from instilled in me. From my science teacher I had for 5 years (yes every time I moved up a grade so did he. We still talk to this day). To the little jokes you make with your neighbors that you miss when you go elsewhere. These places are where our hearts learned to grow. To open. The wonderful thing about our hometowns? We want to leave and explore! Why wouldn't we? The world is big and life is short so let's get out there and see the world. Interesting enough, I've seen my hometown in the strangest of places. When you grow up with lots of wooded areas and families. It would be strange to think I would find shards of my hometown in a bust city like Baltimore, Maryland, wouldn't it?

Nope. People came together in ways their very reminiscent of the little town outside Boston. I watched a community help raise each other up during terrible riots. I watched people help one another. Laugh with one another. Sing, dance, and have drinks with one another. Complete strangers yet they appear as life long friends. It's like walking into a restaurant and seeing all of your old high school buddies and have a drink. It's like nothing has changed. Events, girlfriends, boyfriends, children. Those have had different names. However, during ,my time in Baltimore, I had conversations and drinks with people who may as well have known me my whole life. I shared stories of my upbringing. They shared theirs. We would laugh. Smile. There it was again. My hometown following me like a shadow. Sticking it's little nose into every corner of the world I decide to travel too. So when they say home is where your heart is, just remember, your home can be in many places. Where you're from however will never change, it just may pop up in places you would never have guessed.