Finding Home
After going to Florida for a week of training and then to Dallas for two days I spent a week in San Antonio, the town that I was born and raised. The place that I’m supposed to feel like is my home. Honestly it felt like a place that I was very familiar with, but I can’t say that it was home. Maybe because ever since I left for college 8 years ago I have not really lived there. At least that is what my mom tells me. In a good way, she is just reminding me of my need for independence. It felt as much like home as Florida did. I’ve never been to Florida before this trip so that should put it in perspective.
If San Antonio no longer feels like home then what does. I would assume College Station is next on the list. I have a lot of good memories there, but most of the people I share those memories with are no longer there. That’s not 100% true, there was the post graduation crowd but that was another phase of my life all together. So if College Station was to feel like home it wouldn’t be because of my college roommates but because of the people I used to work with. I liked living in Conroe, but I don’t think I’ll have too much nostalgia coming from the 6 months Kara and I lived there.
So what does that leave? Doha? This Texas boy now calls Doha home. Not just a place he is living for a while but this is actually my home. Where I’ll have memories and where someday I’ll write about in some obscure blog. Then will I feel nostalgia about the local shwarma stands and learning Arabic at QCPI. I think, based off these past two weeks, it will probably be a place that I enjoy in my memories but walking by the physical bricks and sand won’t bring back a rush of good feelings.
This confirms something that I have been tossing around in my head for a while. I don’t really miss any specific place (except for Colorado in the summer) I do however miss people. Anytime people ask me what I miss about the states, family and friends are first on my list and I still struggle to find anything that would be a very distant second. Pork maybe, but it’s not really worth the plane ride. So my conclusion is people make memories and places worth going back to. Not the pretty view or the first house we bought as a married couple. Memories usually require somebody to share it with. Maybe that is why we are not in any hurry to leave Doha. We made a home here with a solid set of friends. It’s not the sand storms or cool 115 degree days that made us sign another year long contract.
I once mocked a friend of mine who said he was going to move to New Mexico to live next to his Old Lady from college. I was thinking how pathetic could you be. Now I’m realizing that is his family and what makes his home a home. Why do we all have to be so damn independent? We kill our selves so that we can make it on our own in our own autonomous lifestyle but if we don’t like it what did we prove. Who knew that guy was so enlightened this whole time.
So to all my friends and family who read this, thanks for making wherever we meet home. I love you guys.
If San Antonio no longer feels like home then what does. I would assume College Station is next on the list. I have a lot of good memories there, but most of the people I share those memories with are no longer there. That’s not 100% true, there was the post graduation crowd but that was another phase of my life all together. So if College Station was to feel like home it wouldn’t be because of my college roommates but because of the people I used to work with. I liked living in Conroe, but I don’t think I’ll have too much nostalgia coming from the 6 months Kara and I lived there.
So what does that leave? Doha? This Texas boy now calls Doha home. Not just a place he is living for a while but this is actually my home. Where I’ll have memories and where someday I’ll write about in some obscure blog. Then will I feel nostalgia about the local shwarma stands and learning Arabic at QCPI. I think, based off these past two weeks, it will probably be a place that I enjoy in my memories but walking by the physical bricks and sand won’t bring back a rush of good feelings.
This confirms something that I have been tossing around in my head for a while. I don’t really miss any specific place (except for Colorado in the summer) I do however miss people. Anytime people ask me what I miss about the states, family and friends are first on my list and I still struggle to find anything that would be a very distant second. Pork maybe, but it’s not really worth the plane ride. So my conclusion is people make memories and places worth going back to. Not the pretty view or the first house we bought as a married couple. Memories usually require somebody to share it with. Maybe that is why we are not in any hurry to leave Doha. We made a home here with a solid set of friends. It’s not the sand storms or cool 115 degree days that made us sign another year long contract.
I once mocked a friend of mine who said he was going to move to New Mexico to live next to his Old Lady from college. I was thinking how pathetic could you be. Now I’m realizing that is his family and what makes his home a home. Why do we all have to be so damn independent? We kill our selves so that we can make it on our own in our own autonomous lifestyle but if we don’t like it what did we prove. Who knew that guy was so enlightened this whole time.
So to all my friends and family who read this, thanks for making wherever we meet home. I love you guys.
posted by Russell at
6:49 PM
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