Way Back Home

I know it's already Sunday, but this is my post for Saturday. I've been a night owl since birth. I was born late at night and my mom told me I used to sneak out of bed to try to watch Johnny Carson when I was still very young. 3 a.m. just doesn't hit me like other people. But the reason my post is so late...or early is because I made my way back to Sardis for the first time since leaving in July today. I left right after I posted my water polo story at 5:30 and got back just in time for most of the Indians game...which of course is in extra innings right now with the Tribe blowing it open (the Indians have always been my No. 2 team behind the Reds. I can cheer for them because they aren't rivals in the way the Bengals and Browns are).

I almost didn't come home. Me and my great friend Adam were heading to a Phil Keaggy concert in Cambridge on Sunday but it ended up being me meeting my uncle, parents and sister and her boyfriend part way. I'm not afraid to say it...my family loves me and I'm pretty lucky. I didn't really want to go all the way to Sardis (almost gave in to a lame excuse) but I know how much it means to my grandparents when they get to see me. It's worth me driving the extra hour or more for that. It's the least I can do for all they've done for me.

The title of the post, "Way Back Home," is actually the title to a Phil Keaggy album. If you don't own it, you should. Low key, acoustic, and has one of the greatest all time songs, "Let Everything Else Go." I hate when I'm the center of attention but how great is it to have my grandparents make a special visit to town to bring me a fresh apple pie that she made special for me. How could I ever complain about the love my family has for me?

Sure, people get bored living on the map dot that is Sardis, but it's a place that everyone should have for a hometown. You can leave for months...or years and come home and everything is the same as you left it. Everyone remembers you and wants to know what you've been up to. Really, not much has changed since I was a boy playing hoops outside Sardis Elementary or riding my bike through town and stopping at the Town Pump for a drink of always cold, fresh water. Trips here always brings back great memories. And that's important. You never want to forget where you are from, especially if you are from Sardis. I'll leave you with a line from Keaggy's "Way Back Home" song that I feel appropriately suits this blog.

Way back home in the childhood of my past,
I ask what becomes of a man who leaves behind
The memory of youth, of youth
Instead of looking back to live again.