The Jennifer Blogs

I made the arrangements and I'm goin' home. Well, to one of my homes. Medina, New York.

I grew up in Medina. It's where I went to first grade. And second. And third. And every grade through the first half of my sophomore year in high school. Then my parents decided they had enough of the bad economy and enough of the snow, so they put our house up for sale and one month later we were in a fully-packed truck bound for Florida.

Since 1988, I've been back to Medina just a couple of times. The last time I was home was 1989. I remember bits and pieces of that trip, some memories more vividly than others. Most of those friends I have talked to a few times on Facebook, but only in recent months. I'm hoping to see as many people as possible while I'm back there.

Tonight I talked to my old friend Lisa Payne. Well, it's not Payne anymore, but that's how I remember her. She was my best friend in elementary and middle school. We grew apart a little bit in high school since we didn't have many classes together, but she will always be one of the people I remember the most in my life. On the phone, we talked about so many things we did together as kids. My most vivid memory of Lisa was the first time she came to my house after school. I made us macaroni & cheese. She was worried my mom would be mad. She must have asked me half a dozen times if not more if I was sure my mom would not be mad that I was making us macaroni & cheese.

When I wrote the title to this blog, it dawned on me I called Medina "home." The funny thing, on this trip I have also called Baton Rouge, Louisiana "home." I did the same thing with Lakeland, FL and Ocala, FL. I also refer to Singapore as home. I guess for me, home is where my heart is, and I have left bits and pieces of my heart with my friends everywhere I have lived. But Medina was my first home and holds the biggest part of my heart. I can't wait to go home.