Hometown.
When you are an Army brat you have a birthplace, but not a hometown. You don't have those same fond memories that your friends do of growing up with the same kids since first grade. You move about every two years and say goodbye to friends you'll never see again. At the time you don't quite get it that as an adult you might have some difficulty with attachment.
My dad retired from the Army the year I turned eleven and we made Dallas our home. I actually lived in the same house for eleven years before moving into my first apartment. I
taught in Cedar Hill for seven years, and made my home in the Duncanville/DeSoto area.
In 1985 I married my sweet husband, and we moved to Celina. We bought our first home and lived there for the next eight years. During this time I continued my teaching career in Frisco, and began making myself a part of the Frisco community. I liked to tell that when I began teaching there the town had only one elementary school. Almost thirty-two years later there are over forty, and there are more on the drawing board. I had told my husband that unlike me, I wanted our daughter to begin and graduate in the same school district.
For many years it didn't matter when or where you went you always ran into a familiar face. Each year you looked forward to the homecoming parade for Frisco High, and enjoyed listening to the children sing Christmas carols at Merry Main Street. You knew the local pharmacist, used the local doctor, and no matter your denomination sent your children to the First Baptist Vacation Bible School. Your children took swimming lessons at the city pool off Main Street, and frequented the newly formed public library down by the Police Station.
The roads were rarely crowded, and you traveled to Plano for shopping and eating out.
Over time whether I realized it or not, Frisco was becoming my hometown. In fact, my husband and I used to joke that we could be considered old time Frisco.
As the years passed Frisco began to grow. It seemed there was no reason to leave town anymore. They said Frisco was one of the fastest growing communities in the nation, but it was hard to wrap your brain around the sheer magnitude of that. All along they kept reminding us that Frisco still had that small town feel. Now that may have been true if you had moved from a bustling large city, but for those of us who had lived here for years it just didn't seem to ring true anymore. Over night Frisco had become too large, too crowded, and too busy. It didn't matter what time of day or night you were out and about you were either sitting in traffic or waiting in line to check out, and don't even get me started about the school zones.
I keep finding myself quite nostalgic about the old days. Despite the growth I feel quite fortunate that I was able to provide my daughter with a pretty special hometown, and although I don't know if it will remain my residence, it will always hold a special place in my heart as my own adopted hometown.
