Pennsylvania everywhere!

On the way to work this morning, I was in a good mood due to a PA reference I encountered in the living room.  As I ate my breakfast, a toy truck from Knoebels was lying on the other end of the couch which prompted memories of long lost summer days spent at the amusement park to flood my brain.  

Then, as I turned into the parking lot on campus, a huge Hershey's Ice Cream truck blocked my way since it was making a delivery.  Happy times from the "sweetest" place on Earth brought a smile to my face (and made me drool a bit as I thought of their yummy chocolate).  

Minutes later, I was busy with the hustle and bustle of teaching, writing, and meetings.  Before I knew it, the day (and feelings of PA nostalgia) got away from me...until I made the drive home from work tonight...behind a family van with a Pennsylvania license plate!  Seeing the familiar tag reminded me of the PA references from this morning.  As I followed the van, I was reminded of the family trips we used to make in our 1984 red Astro van as a child.  I miss the days of seeing my brothers and my parents all the time.  It's funny to think that there were times in high school, especially during senior year, when I couldn't wait to "leave home" and go to college all across the state at good ol' IUP.  Sometimes, I wish I could go back and talk to the teenage version of myself and tell the younger Meg to enjoy the moments with her brothers and parents.  I would tell her to embrace it all just a bit more, even the times of being irritated and annoyed by them, because the time when you will only see them a few times a year will come all too fast.  

 
I pray that after graduation in May, I will be able to go back to a kind of life where I will be able to see my brothers and parents at least once a month if not more often but then that puts me in the dilemma of wondering how I am going to deal with the transition of not seeing my beautiful NC family on a regular basis anymore??!!  It's almost enough to make you not want to get close to others for fear the pain of not being around them anymore will be greater than the joy of being a part of their lives brings you.  

Would it be better to just cut yourself off from others and live an isolated life?  Is it better to keep up a wall so that you can keep potential close others at bay and maintain distance so that you don't experience rejection and hurt in the long run?  




I don't think so.  






I think you have to go through the pain to really appreciate the glory.  As Psalms 30:5 reminds us, "Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning".





Ah, home really is where the heart is for me.  Yet, I know wherever I wind up, I will always take a little bit of it with me in my heart!