I Have a Hometown

dramatic nighttime forest fire in california
Photo by Soly Moses on Pexels.com

I have a hometown
In a state many love to hate.
Its beauty is undeniable
Its politics are indisputable.

Its topography is big; its diversity is big
The ocean is big; the mountains are big; the desert is big.
The glitter and glamour are big; the freeways are massive; the weather is diverse.
So many reasons it’s a state to love with as many reasons for some people to hate.

But it’s my Hometown
Good/bad or indifferent.
A place whose moniker I share with millions
Who were born, raised and schooled within the diversity of it all.

My Grandparents fled the Bolsheviks to live in a better place
Tragically, my Parents were killed by a drunk driver in my Hometown.
Tucked away in the city of glitz, my Grandparents and Parents are laid to their rest in a Jewish cemetery.
Good/bad or indifferent, it’s my Hometown.

My heart, my memories, my family and friends
Some dead, most still alive are in my Hometown.
Though I have spent decades in the northern part of the state
My heart, my memories, my family and friends are in my Hometown.

I shutter when there are nasty remarks about my Hometown
As I feel I must always defend its uniqueness and special qualities.
Its diversity employs so many, its creativity gives pleasure to the arts
Its educational institutions teach students for the 21st century to make the world better.

Say what you must, but this Hometown of mine is special, beautiful
And contributes so much to the advancement of us all, in so many ways.
Say what you must
But no people or city deserve to be scorched and decimated, to look like a war zone.

My heart breaks, the tears flow, the anger at Father Nature is pure rage
Not at people, but the randomness of life, like when the drunk driver hit our car.
My parents died; I lived.
And 63 years later, I’ve learned to mourn, to cry and grieve, to celebrate joy and make sure I laugh once a day, despite what happened to my family in my Hometown.

It’s only a few days later, so too soon to give the folks who have lost everything any kind of philosophical advice
But please stop saying, “You’re alive, it was only “stuff” you lost.
Their “stuff” was their history, their life’s work, their items of legacy
And we must give them the courtesy of time, space and empathy to mourn their stuff. They can rebuild a house, but without their stuff, it’s not a home.

There are times we all must renew, reinvent, rebuild our lives
The timeline is not the same for all.
Compassion is endless, it’s free for everyone, easy to share and spread around
So, within the dark and murky skies, I’m sending faith, hope and love
To my beloved Hometown.

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