Life happens.

You move away from home. Your parents move away from your childhood home--they just don't need the house anymore or they're needed elsewhere. Regardless, sometimes the place you grew up in, becomes simply that: the place you grew up in. Your home becomes wherever your family is, or wherever you are.

That place you grew up in is still your home in some regards. It's where all your memories lie. It's where you graduated high school, where you had your first kiss, where you were born. It has so much history, plays such a huge part in your story, you are never quite sure you can find a place like that town.

When you visit your hometown, there is something different about it. You can no longer go to that place that you used to so easily drive to. Someone else lives there now. Now you have to find a place to stay. A place that may be considered your second home, but it's not, in fact, your home.

People have left. They've all gone off to school or moved away to find work. Some may have stayed, but for the most part, when you're back in your hometown, it's a break, or all your friends have decided to meet up. When you do go back, so many things have changed. You are a stranger to this new town that you used to be all too familiar with.

Yet, there is still a sense of relief when you enter that town. It still reflects all of the ideals of home that you yearn for--what you may still be searching for. You start to understand the statement "home is where the heart is." When you are gathered with your friends, you create the sense of home. You remind yourself of the times you used to have in that old town, and hopefully, create new memories.

At the same time, however, you slowly learn, that you are creating a different home somewhere else for yourself. You know that you belong there instead of where you used to be. Being back "home" helps you realize that.

So when your hometown isn't your home anymore, just remember that sometimes, that's okay. You need to have that realization in order to find a new home, one that's just yours.