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The home where I grew up as a child sold and someone new lives there now. My grandparents raised me. Sadly, the both passed away within a year of each other. The contents of their home sold at an auction. The day of the auction, it felt as though treasures of my past were sold for a penny. The buyers could never know the value of grandmas' crystal serving bowls, or the significance of grandpas' chain saw.

I am sure if I were to return, my bedroom would look pretty much the same. Although the contents of the room would be different, the windows would still display the same view. The door would be in the same place and the light on the ceiling would turn on and off just the same.

Going back home months later to drive by and capture a glimpse of my past was bittersweet. The beautiful snowball tree on the front lawn was no longer there. Grandpa planted five apple trees to border the garden they were no longer there. The beautiful poplar trees were no longer there. Grandpa and Grandma had brought one poplar tree home every vacation they took up north to Poplar hill. Nice beautiful trees were now gone because their meaning had passed away from this earth.

The lawn remained. I used to lie outside on the grass in the night and look up at the stars when I was young. If you have had the opportunity to view the night sky in the country you will understand, the glory of its display. It could take a person an entire night to count all the stars.

I feel sad when I think of going back home. A part of my life is completed. A part of me knows I do not have to go back home to feel at home though. The beauty of the night and the stars that God delicately sprinkled all around is always available. Every wish I made as a child upon the stars at night shines down on me today. In their own way, they guide me from day to day.

Now that I am grown, I have come to understand that the earth is my home and the evening skies my ceiling. It is possible to go back home anytime I just had to look up instead of straight ahead.

Learn more about this author, Colleen C Smith.
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