Looking back, forward and homesick?

So, I was feeling a little homesick, not of my actual house, but of the city I grew up in.  I know that everyone gets homesick from now and then, but it crept up on me, and when phone calls, fresh pita bread and emails didn’t work, I turned to literature.

Lucky for me, while I was at Barnes and Noble, I came across the new Les Roberts mystery, set in my home town of Cleveland.  The adventures of Milan Jacovich satisfied my craving for the great City of Cleveland, partly because his world in Cleveland as with my memories, are slightly fictional, and greatly loved.

The book satisfied my craving.  But, as I was reading, DH and I were cleaning the basement out for work on our water line, and we came across the other books in the series.  One of these books is signed by the author, who I remember calling one day in Cleveland about career advice.

At that time, many years ago, I was trying to find myself, career, place, location, everything.  I don’t know how I came about to call the author who I greatly respected, and I don’t know how he called me back.  But we talked for a bit on the phone.  I don’t remember much of the conversation, but I do remember the young woman who was trying to figure out what her next move should be.

When I think about that young woman 11 years ago, I wonder what she would have thought if she saw me today.

Life is like a Choose your own adventure novel, which I loved so much as a kid.  But, you can’t go back and change your story for a different outcome.  Don’t get me wrong, I like where I am now, but it is far different than I could have imagined.  And much better I believe too.

But there are things that I miss.  I think now of going back to spending the time to write.  I need to create.  You always hear that you need to make time to write an hour a day.  Not that I ever fashioned myself a writer, I have other family members who are that, but I just have an urge to create.  This urge to create is getting stronger each day that I am in my “down-turn of economy” data entry job.  (which I am very happy to have… did I mention the cost for a new water line?)

So, the list on the big ticket items increase, and my laptop in which I dream about being able to write, or blog, or play, is in that list, somewhere between new shoes, baby seat for the bike and a new fence for the yard.  Or I could just wait until DH and LM are asleep…