Missing you, Florida!

For some reason, I'm missing my home state like crazy...almost to the point that I wish I still lived there. It's odd for me because I haven't felt like this in at least 10 years. Oh, there are plenty of things I DON'T miss, like the summer heat and flat landscape, but there are more things that I do miss. I can 99.9% bet that we will never ever live there, but I just needed to say that I do miss it and today more so than most.

I miss:

1. Friends....or shall I say family. My closest friends in the world are people I knew in my Florida years. There are several families who are like true family...Jamerson, Clendenins, Balls...and Michelle. I miss them. I miss the familiarity and closeness we all had, thanks to the determination of my parents to be close to these people which led me to be close to them. In addition to these friends are my true family - my grandpa and lots of aunts, uncles, cousins live down there. I miss being close to them, too.

2. The Gators. My dad was the biggest, baddest fan of the family and still is. He worked at a restaurant on campus and we spent lots of time at UF as a family. Amanda went there and I had plans to go there, but I wasn't accepted for the term I had applied for (I was accepted for the following semester) and I had no scholarship. So, I went to Santa Fe for 2 years then to UGA the remaining 2 (where I had the HOPE scholarship making my education was free). I wish I would have gone to UF because I have so much pride for that school. The campus is great and very beautiful. I have lots of memories being the UF Homecoming parades from childhood to high school. I never went to a Gator Growl, but maybe one day... I miss UF basketball games. I went to several while I was at community college there. I've only been to one or two football games in the Swamp and oh, how I'd LOVE to go to another one! One nice thing about Florida field is that it's open to the public. Lots of students run stairs there. You can even go down to the field and walk on it. Everyone seems to understand having respect for the field. If I ever had the desire to go back to school, I'd love to go to UF.

3. What Florida represents. It's a big part my heritage. I grew up there. I became a Christian there. I formed my closest friendships there. We had lots of Thanksgivings and Christmases there. Lots of concerts and recitals. Lots of joy, laughter, tears, pain...the things that make up a person.

For some reason, these things have been heavy on my heart today. I'd love to go back. But, I'm here now. And I'm happy where I am. I just miss the many yesterdays of my life sometimes. And today is one of those days.