This place is bittersweet for me and even though it is still in my
life now, it no longer feels like home. I've lived at this house for
my entire life, but it changed when I turned six and my parents
got divorced. Before that, this place was my home and a place
where I made my friends. After school and doing my homework,
we would all meet outside and decide what we wanted to do. Whether that was riding our bikes around town, going to play at the old factory, coloring on the sidewalks, or just sitting on someone's porch and playing games, we always found some-
thing to do there. I lived so close to all of my friends, some lived
right across the street, and some were down or up the next block.

 

Living there for the entirety of my life was good, but it ended up being something I didn't enjoy. I found that as I got older, my relationships with my friends became strained and even-
tually we stopped hanging out. Now that I have my place, I never
go over there unless I am seeing my dad.

 

Being in one place for so long that was never fully mine because
the choices my parents made changed how I viewed this house.
It was good in the beginning, but I have since learned that this house was a place where I spent a lot of my life while being unsure about life itself. Since I have gotten away from it, I have 
found a new purpose. I enjoy living and creating a life for my-
self that is nothing like what I experienced in my own childhood
home. It's not that I don't appreciate the place I grew up in, it's that the memories I have there no longer represent me and I don't want those anymore.