Dissociated Thoughts

Coming Back

BCOF Day 3210 “Why do we go away? So that we can come back. So that we can see the place we came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see might see us differently, too..” ― Terry Pratchett
Your thoughts about Pratchett's view on change....

         Pratchett makes sense to me - it's happened in my life as a matter of fact. Recently, I returned to visit my family in the town in which I grew up. It was for a party for my great niece so there was more than just family there. What a pleasant surprise to find that some of the folks I happened to run into were old school-mates of mine! I had purposely not been back to visit more than my parents' home for over twenty years. Going into town brought back such nostalgic memories. But coupled with those memories was the inevitable change a town goes through over the years. Some of my most beloved landmarks were torn down, and replaced with new buildings in most cases. It was a feeling of it being "the same yet different." And those people who I knew from way back when, well, they are a nicer lot now. Grown in maturity through the years, some enough to apologize for the Hell they put me through as a teen. Back then, being the different one - the outsider was hard for me. Going back made me realize that I did what I needed to do by staying true to myself. And you know what? Those people had different memories of me from then. They don't remember me as the weirdo, the butt of everyone's jokes and rumors. Some did remember what they put me through and apologized for it. That was nice, but for me, I put the past behind me long ago. It was just lovely to get to catch up with those people I spent my formative years with. We go away, sometimes to come back, sometimes to escape from unhealthy situations, other times just to go because going is what makes us US. But coming back is almost always an option.