Home again

My apartment in Downtown Sioux Falls is one of my favorite places that I’ve ever lived.

It was the first time I lived alone and there is something so strongly wonderful about coming home to an empty, quiet haven. The building was near work and the charms of Downtown Sioux Falls, the prettiest part of the city.

Outside of logistical things, I had it decorated in a more appeasing way than my previous places. As spring settled in, I would lay in bed for a moment between the sound of my alarm and the rush to get to work. The sun poured in from my main window, which I could only see from behind the off-white curtains that separated my bed from the rest of the studio apartment, and I felt the sting of peace as if no obstacle, person or otherwise, could knock me down from this feeling. It was in those times that I truly fell in love with that apartment.

Now, the space sits mostly empty, except for my furniture which will be picked up later next month. It’s blankness is the first real tangible symbol of my leaving than anything this far.

For the next month, I will spending a majority of my time with my family in Pierre. Although I have another week left of work in Brookings and Sioux Falls, I came home this holiday weekend to see my youngest brother who is visiting from Moorhead. As I drive the streets of my home town and spot familiar places, it’s surreal to think I see these same streets and places every day.

Since high school, going home, or back to Pierre, is an ideal I’ve fought with until just recently. Maybe it’s maturity, but I suddenly enjoying going home again. I’ve always like seeing my family and being at “home”, but now I am excited to spend some time in my actual hometown. I hope to spend some time at a few of my favorite spots and take in pieces of this town that I tried to avoid for the last seven years.

Tonight, I am sitting on my parents patio, wrapped in a blanket because the fresh South Dakota air is a bit too much. I can see the stars and smell the onset of summer. Cars zoom past on Euclid, but I sense serenity. It’s good to be back in this part of the state.

I will now be in a much smaller town in a house with three other people (my brother Chris moved home as well) and it will be an adjustment. I will miss having my best friends close by, having my own space and being minutes from my favorite restaurants and coffee shops, but being here is where I need to be.

I hope to use the next few weeks to make amends with my hometown and fall in love with God’s country all over again. All of that, of course, coming second to spending as much time with my family as possible.