# Being in my hometown. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-in-my-hometown/376606 "2006-10-16T05:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-in-my-hometown/376606/1 "2006-10-16T05:16:24Z")
Here’s what I love about coming home: This past night, I drove up from PA to my hometown in NJ. I made it a point to take the familiar NJ Turnpike, which I used to travel from my hometown to both my grandparents’ places down in South Jersey. Obviously, every time I to up or down I-95, I get nostalgic. On the northbound way home, I go up NJ-17 through Paramus, and just feel even more nostalgia. I remind myself that I haven’t actually _lived_ at home for nigh on eleven years, and while it all still feels the same, I know its changed slightly. Then I get to my hometown. I pull of of Rt. 17, and head West. I lower my window, and smell the crisp, cold air, and a hint of someone’s oak fireplace. I drive a little deeper down Main Street, and I imagine I’m walking my sweetheart down the main drag at night with the chill and the oak in the air. . . And I turn right at one light, pass Town Hall and the police station, and make my way home. I stop in my truck, and before I walk up to the door, I look around the neighborhood: I wonder where the girls from across the street are. I wonder where Steve from down the block is. I wonder how my buddy’s father from up the street is fareing, after his diagnosis. . . . . . man, even though it’s just for one night, it’s good to be home. Tripler I wish we all had the fortune of making it back to our hometown. 😉