by jo | Jan 19, 2016 | Everyday Stories, Memoir & Essays
I’d just told my uncle that I wanted to move. I was living in an area that I’d only moved to for two reasons. The first was that I wanted to move out of my hometown. I’d spent enough time there as an adult, and enough time there after some major life changes to feel...
by jo | Oct 20, 2015 | Everyday Stories
“You never know, with where I’m from,” I said jokingly about some snarky comment he had made. “You talk so much crap about your town,” he said, shaking his head. I stopped, seriously taken aback. “But you know that I really love...
by jo | May 26, 2015 | Everyday Stories
I wrote this poem almost exactly two years ago about some of the people in my hometown. I have moved away now, but they are still people whose faces light up when they see me in town, who hug me and ask how things are and are willing to hear the honest answers. They...
by jo | Dec 23, 2014 | Everyday Stories, Jesus Time, Travel
If I’m honest — which I am — homesickness is the cause of my current wandering-life phase. I’ve been saying that I’m searching for a place that feels like home. I didn’t know of any that still existed for me until one night not too...
by jo | Dec 9, 2014 | Everyday Stories, Travel
photo credit: [phil h] via photopin cc “Don’t tell them that you’ll keep in touch,” she said to us. “Because you won’t.” One of the school administration was talking to the group of 5 of us from the US who were brand new to the school and were there for the semester...