Home

Hanover, Massachusetts has been home for my family for the better half of the last century. Both my mother and father's parents moved there in the early 1950's. My parents met in high school, and after spending four years away at college, moved back to start their own family. We're townies. Which isn't a bad thing, I do really like my town. It's a typical South Shore suburb. It's small, but not too small. It's not as busy as a city, but there are things to do. What really makes it home, though, are my family and friends. I grew up surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins within a five minute drive. There was always someone to babysit, play with or just hang out. I've known most of my closest friends since nursery school. While it's terribly cliche, I think there is something really cool about knowing someone for that long, and seeing them through all the different stages of life. We're all at different schools, some as far away as New York and Vermont, but on the few occasions when we are all home, its as though no time has passed.
My idea of home is changing, however. For the past 3 and a half years, I've lived at Stonehill more than I've lived at home. My friends have become like another family. I catch myself referring to campus as "home" when I'm away and I'm talking about going back. Home is going to continue to be a tricky subject come May when I graduate. I have to decide what I'll be doing and where I will be living. At the end of the day though, when someone asks me where home is, I think I'll always say Hanover.