Kate Beachy

Robert Frost once said that "home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in." I abbreviated, of course, and I'm sure if he were around he'd tell me that I altogether butchered a quote from one of his most famous poems. My point, though, is that when I first heard this quote I wasn't entirely sure that I understood or even liked its meaning. I was young, likely in my pre-teen years - and had already been moved at least twice by my family from one state to another. Back then, I hated the thought of having to pack up and move, yet again, to a whole new town with a whole new group of people to get to know. However, moving has become a major staple in my life. In fact, in all of my 26 years, I've moved a total of 12 times. Sometimes, back to places I'd already been - other times, thousands of miles away from everything and everyone that I know. However, each and every time I moved provided me an opportunity to completely reinvent myself, meet all new people, develop brand new relationships, and learn even more about myself than I had known before. Perhaps my favorite thing about moving was the choice I had to make at the beginning of my new life every time I'd arrived at my new home: "what kind of Kate do you want to be here?" The answer never came easily and it never revealed itself over night; but when it did, I was always surprised at my capacity to grow and learn even more about myself and life than I had before.

And so, now, I live in Greenville, MS. Not the typical destination for a 26 year old who is looking for a life-long career, but I have my reasons. Outside of my relationship with God, my family is the absolute most important thing to me in this life. Recently, my grandmother had an accident in which she severely hurt her foot and is unable to take care of herself at the moment. I volunteered, like I have done several times before for different family members, to come and help in any way that I could. I expected my time in Greenville to be short-lived - that I'd be here as long as it took for her to get back on her feet (figuratively and literally) and then I'd be riding off into the sunset in the direction of another new home. However, in just three short weeks, I've grown to really enjoy being here. I've lived in major cities, small towns, and rural areas; I've lived on the beach and in the woods; but never before has what Robert Frost said in his poem "The Death of a Hired Man" made more sense. If home really is wh