Where Am I?

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."-Robert Frost
       As a child I lived in few places.  Those in Nebraska were Norfolk, Albion, and now Aurora.  I also spent four years in the city of Menesha, Wisconsin.  There are good and bad things about all of these places.  I'll start with my place of birth in Albion.  I love this town.  It was my first home and I feel like I know almost everything about what Albion was.  Besides my grandmother's old house, my favorite place in town was Charlie's.  On top of this white shack the sign said The Albion Dariette, but everyone knew the real name.  A rather big fellow by the name of Charlie would sit in the corner in a dirty white shirt and jeans and watch the teenagers serve up the ice cream.  Never in my life have I ever tried better ice cream than that served at Charlie's, and trust me I've eaten plenty to compare.  Albion also houses many unpleasant memories.  Whenever I go there I can feel a dark cloud go over me, bringing my mood down drastically.  For example the memory of spending two weeks in the summer with my grandmother who was on her death bed.  The whole funeral process we went through there with two of my grandparents.  Also most of the memories associated with my biological father are split between Albion and Norfolk.  A few years ago I met a current friend of mine that just happened to live in Albion.  We were able to create some more good memories to cover the bad.
         After living in both Norfolk and Albion our family picked up and moved to Menesha.  I hate cities.  My current hate for cities probably stems from my brief childhood expierence with this one.  At the time it didn't seem to bad.  Our neighborhood was full of children our age that we could play with but I was still being passed back and forth from Norfolk to Menesha.  After spending four years there so my dad could finish his schooling, we moved back to Nebraska to be close to family. 
       I've spent most of my 18 years in the small town of Aurora, Nebraska.  There are many things about Aurora that I love.  Everyone knows everyone.  I suppose this could be both good and bad because this also means that rumors spread rather quickly... It takes about a day for the whole town to find something out.  I love the sense of community here.  To me it seems like if anyone was having any kind of trouble, neighbors and friends would do anything they could to help.  People say "hi" here. When cars pass eachother there is an exchange of a friendly wave, or in some people's case a lift of the pointer finger.  When going to the store you can start up a conversation with the cashier because chances are you either know them or see them on a regular basis.  Another thing I love about my home town is the history and how people know it.  We are taught throughtout elementary, middle, and highschool about our towns history.  There are stories passed down about the old buildings that surround our courthouse, like the old bowling ally on the top floor of one of the buildings or Bufflao Bill's signature in the old Aurora Motel books.  The courthouse itsself also has a history people know, like the strobe light at the top being orignally put in my Edgerton or it being burnt down and rebuilt.  Even the streets hold history, though some people in town find them no more than an annoyance.  I find the rugged brick streets add character to our small town. 
       A big part of my life in Aurora is my highschool.  Besides the seven hours and ten minutes of actual school I also spend two hours after that at practice.  I better grow to love the school because I spend so much time at it.  Last year I would get to school at 7:30 to pitch, shower at school, go to school,followed by practice.  That's ten hours a day at school.  Walking into the gym there is an immidiate scent.  To me it's firmiliar and comfortable because of long work outs and many days spent there.  Each class room holds memories of their own for me and for other people and even for years after me and my classmates graduates the school will be a place that makes memories for people.