Going back home

"Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." Terry Pratchett

I love the writings of Terry Pratchett, if you get a chance visit his website and read some great fantasy, but I wander from my theme today. 

My best friend grew up in a small town and then moved away for a few years and returned. His perspective changed his view of this community. I am sure this happens to many of us. I also grew up in a small community, outside of a small town. The worldview of the people I knew was very limited. My family was seen as outsiders for years because we were not from the area. My friends thought it was amazing that my mom and dad would drive to the big city (three hours away) every weekend to visit our cousins.

My grandson in Australia is growing up in a very small community, and many of his friends and classmates have not left their small rural area. My grandson has travelled to Canada, Japan, and the United States and has done so with his mom and dad, ever since he was born. As he is now older, he is starting to hang out with friends who have travelled and who have a broader worldview. 

It will take him a while to understand that when he leaves a place he has known forever and experiences something new, it changes both him and that place. He returns to something familiar, but it looks different because his perspective has changed. Leaving and coming home again expands his worldview, much more than staying put ever would. I knew this when I was about his age, but I did not come to appreciate that understanding until I was in my early 20s. I hope that he learns that lesson faster than I did, because my not understanding this simple concept, kept me from really appreciating the people and the place I left behind.