Homesickness

It's funny how things change sometimes. When I first came to college, I used to go home every weekend. Staying all the way in Lafayette, a whole hour and a half away from good ol' Morgan City and my family, wasn't even a consideration.

Then I started making friends, mainly through Chi Alpha. Once I did, there was some appeal to staying over the weekend. I could actually do something besides watch TV in my lonely little room with my creepily silent roomate. I started staying. Just a few times a semester at first. Nothing major. Gradually, slowly, I began to stay a little bit more frequently. Within a few years, I transitioned from going more than staying to staying more than going.

Fast forward to this semester, 5 years after that first bold adventure of staying the weekend. I haven't been home all semester. This is most certainly the longest amount of time I've ever been away from home. And I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I'm actually homesick. I've been feeling pretty bad lately, and for awhile I couldn't figure out why. But I guess I just figured it out today:

I miss my family. I miss my Mom. I miss my Dad. I miss my brother and his wife (who's pregnant, btw). I miss my sisters and brother-in-law and my 2 little nieces. And gosh how I hate, hate, hate seeing that my nieces have grown a LOT since the last time I've seen them and knowing that I missed out on so much. I miss my grandparents. I miss the 2 friends whom I always make a point to see everytime I go home. All this missing has just been eating away at me.

Don't worry about me though. This isn't meant to be a sob story. First of all, now that I've figured all that out, I feel a lot better. AND, guess what? I get to go home THIS WEEKEND! And not just for a weekend, but for 10 whole stinkin' days! I'm so excited!

So you see, this story does have a happy ending. : )

BTW: I can drink coffee again! I'll talk about that next time.

~Ken, Born of Fire