204Home
I've lived in the same house my whole life, in southeastern Wisconsin, about twenty minutes outside of Milwaukee, in a middle class suburban community. I love my house. I know it like the back of my hand. I know exactly how many stairs there are going to the basement and going to the second floor. I can tell you how many steps it takes to get from the door coming in from the garage to the kitchen, down that back hall. I can tell you when each room gets the most sun. I can tell you which window screen has a hole in it. I know where the little blood marks are from a bloody nose on the floor or on a bed sheet. I can tell you basically anything about my house. It was built while my mom was pregnant with me. It's been up as long as I have been alive. And I'm in high school.
My church is practically like a second home to me. I was baptized there when I was a baby. I got my first Bible there in second grade. I had my first Communion there in third grade. I was confirmed there, where I affirmed my faith in Christ Jesus and our Lord and the Holy Spirit, just a few months ago, in September of my freshman year in high school. I've slept at that church so many times, and my class there is like a second family to me. Some of my best friends go there with me. We go on the summer trips together, making sure we get to share a tent or cabin or whatever.
Sure, some of my friends have moved. Out to Greenfield, or Hartland, or Oconomowoc. And some of them transferred schools because they don't like my schools reputation for being a gang school. (Yeah, some fights, but it's not horrible.) But we're still really close, most of us. My friend, I'll call her "Ally", and I have been best friends since kindergarten, and my other friend, "Phil", and I have been best friends since about first grade. The three of us are still close. And when I went to middle school, I made friends there, who're like sisters to me. Same with high school. Most of my friends are like my family. I'm comfortable with them. I've randomly just waltzed into Ally's house and asked if I could have a juice box because I was thirsty from my bike ride and I didn't feel like going the extra three houses down the road to get something to drink.
My home here is my whole world. Yes, I've been on vacation to San Francisco and Washington and DC. But this is where I'm comfortable. There's a small, non-chain restaurant about a half mile from my house. I bike there and eat burgers, cheese curds, fries, and shakes by myself or with Ally and/or Phil or maybe someone else. I can walk there, or I like to bike there. The elementary school I attended when I was younger is just up the road from me. I take my bike there and just circle the school for an hour or two, maybe three, at a time. I get lost in my own world, thinking about plot twists or dialogues or characters or whatever for my stories.
This place here, in a state that most people forget about unless they're talking about Brett Favre (TRAITOR!) or beer or cheese, this place here is my world. My life. I'm getting my driver's license soon. And drivers ed classes from a local company that gives them to everyone in our county, basically.
What's this you're telling me?
"Sweetie, you're dad lost his job." Excuse me? He's our main breadwinner. Mom works at our church, part-time. How did this happen?
"He's looking around. He'll find a job soon enough."
"Honey," Daddy says to me. "I know that this isn't good news, but we might move." EXCUSE ME? "We might have to move to Cleveland." OHIO? What the hell goes on in OHIO? They don't have the Brewers! How am I supposed to go to Miller Park with the 'Smith's on the weekends over the summer if we go to OHIO?
Fast forward a few weeks.
"Well, no go on Ohio." Thank God! "But…" Oh, no. "We might go to North Carolina, or just up to Appleton or Green Bay." Aw, hell… "Don't be too upset." How can I not be upset?
This place here is my whole world. My friends, my church, my school, my home.
I'm going to be a sophomore in high school next year. By then, everyone has their cliques and groups. I'm not exactly a "social butterfly", so how am I going to get friends? I won't. I'd be a loner.
Alone.
I don't want to be alone.
Hello all. Felt like it was about time to pop in again. Read up, comment, and contribute. Contrary to popular belief, entries will still be accepted.
Also, cheers to our 80th entry!
Thanks, all.
Love, I.P.
PS: If you've sent in an entry within the past few months and have yet to get a reply, I apologize. I just now realized that there are still responses I need to send out (because I am oh-so responsible), so keep an eye out.