2008 Woodie Awards
Living Sideways
Claire Cohen
Issue date: 1/30/07 Section: B Side
- Page 1 of 1
I've always heard the saying "You can never go home again." But I've also always heard musicians and poets and other pop culture in-fluences refute that myth. They say you can go home again -- and they should know, because as musicians and poets, they must have been living off of their parents for a long time before they became famous enough to support themselves.
But as a musician and poet, who is still currently dependent upon her parents for financial support, I think I only semi-agree. This winter break, I learned that you can go home again; it just depends on your definition of the words in the phrase.
"Go" meaning visit the place where you grew up for no more than four weeks; "home" mean-ing the place you spent the most time living in while you were growing up; and "again" meaning going back after hav-ing been away for an amount of time where significant changes have the opportunity to occur.
Upon returning home for this winter break, I was driving around my town, expecting to see some of the people I knew from high school, or expecting someone to see my obnoxious car, realize it was me and honk. But there was no one.
I didn't return home until Dec. 22, just in time to deco-rate the tree and buy presents for the special select family members who would be enjoy-ing gifts funded by my hard earned, work-study money.
It is my opinion that every-one experiences these types of situations when returning home after being away for a few years. People are missing, landmarks have changed and the entire student body of your high school doesn't recognize your car going 75 in a 25 mph zone at the end of the school day. Now instead of getting beeps of approval for being an idiot, you get points on your license.
After two very long weeks of being home, I realized that the meaning of home changes as you get older. You can physi-cally return to the town where you grew up, but it may not feel like home when you arrive.
Whether your home is the house you grew up in, with your cats, your mom and your mundane responsibilities like cleaning the bathroom and tak-ing out the garbage at 7 a.m.; or whether it's the 11 ft. by 13 ft. dorm room you split with a for-mer stranger, the bathroom you share with 30 other people and the ability to use your parents money for a Domino's break at 2 a.m.: "Home is where the heart is."
But as a musician and poet, who is still currently dependent upon her parents for financial support, I think I only semi-agree. This winter break, I learned that you can go home again; it just depends on your definition of the words in the phrase.
"Go" meaning visit the place where you grew up for no more than four weeks; "home" mean-ing the place you spent the most time living in while you were growing up; and "again" meaning going back after hav-ing been away for an amount of time where significant changes have the opportunity to occur.
Upon returning home for this winter break, I was driving around my town, expecting to see some of the people I knew from high school, or expecting someone to see my obnoxious car, realize it was me and honk. But there was no one.
I didn't return home until Dec. 22, just in time to deco-rate the tree and buy presents for the special select family members who would be enjoy-ing gifts funded by my hard earned, work-study money.
It is my opinion that every-one experiences these types of situations when returning home after being away for a few years. People are missing, landmarks have changed and the entire student body of your high school doesn't recognize your car going 75 in a 25 mph zone at the end of the school day. Now instead of getting beeps of approval for being an idiot, you get points on your license.
After two very long weeks of being home, I realized that the meaning of home changes as you get older. You can physi-cally return to the town where you grew up, but it may not feel like home when you arrive.
Whether your home is the house you grew up in, with your cats, your mom and your mundane responsibilities like cleaning the bathroom and tak-ing out the garbage at 7 a.m.; or whether it's the 11 ft. by 13 ft. dorm room you split with a for-mer stranger, the bathroom you share with 30 other people and the ability to use your parents money for a Domino's break at 2 a.m.: "Home is where the heart is."
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