Automatically I answered: “Everything.”
I miss you for sure, I told him, and of course my family and friends and the landscape and the smell of fall. I miss the red dirt and collard greens on the menu and the comforts of ... well ... home.
“But you’ve been in Florida so long, you must have roots there, too,” my buddy said.
“Oh yeah, definitely.” That’s where I met my wife, where my kids were born, where I’ve built a career. I’ve worked with some amazing people in Florida and made lifelong friends and memories. It’s a wonderful place to be.
“I realize this is totally schizophrenic,” I tell him, and it’s true. It’s my tale of two hometowns: Winston-Salem and Orlando. Oh well, so be it. It’s only those times when my heart aches, for one place or the other, that I’m thrown off balance. Like now.