Monroeville

A small town can be a blessing and a curse. When you’re young, it’s more of a curse. As you get older, you realize how much of a blessing it’s always been.

In high school I couldn’t wait to get out. Monroeville was the place where everyone knew everything about everybody. People even took the liberty of making up things about you that you didn’t even know were true. But at the same time everyone had their group of people. Whether it was 5 people or 50 people, they were the ones you counted on.

After high school graduation, whether it was you going off to college or your friends, you knew things would never be the same. I was the one that was saying, “Now I’m really going to find out who my friends are.” Then after your second year of college or so, you realized “who your real friends were”. When in reality, it was everyone’s fault for not keeping in touch with each other. Some tried more than others, but life just got in the way.

After college graduation, you realize how much you miss everyone. You’ve made some irreplaceable new friends while in college, but you still miss the ones who were there in the beginning. The ones who were with you when you were still trying to find out you were. You really begin to miss home.

Between the end of high school and now, tragedy happened. You either lost a friend, a family member (including pets), or someone Monroeville never knew, and no matter where you were Monroeville reached out. It reached out and offered a hug, an “I’m sorry”, meals for weeks, cards, etc. I got my first glimpse of Monroeville’s love when Adam died, but I didn’t really understand it until my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer. People I hadn’t talked to in years were offering a kind word or would just say “if there anything I can do for you…” was always more than enough. It made me realize how special Monroeville really is, and always had been.

Last week, a boy from Monroeville passed away. Just by reading all the Facebook statuses you could see how much it touched Monroeville. He hadn’t even lived there his whole life, but Monroeville remembered him, and knew it would miss him.

Monroeville is special in the way only someone from Monroeville would understand. When you were young, you felt like it was always trying to bring you down. As you got older, you wished you had given it a chance to bring you up, because it definitely would have.

Monroeville, I’ve missed you, and I can’t wait to come home for Thanksgiving.