where i get sentimental

I never cease to be amazed at the flood of emotions that I feel when I am standing in the driveway at my parents house looking up at the night sky. There are so many stars, stars just keep peeking out from behind other stars the longer you look up at it. It can be summer, fall, winter, spring; it can be hot, cold, raining or snowing. And there seem to always be hundreds of millions of stars out. When I lived there I had no idea how amazing the stars were. I didn't even miss them when I first moved out of the house and went to college in Worcester. I probably didn't even notice that I missed them until I came home for a visit. I got out of the car, and I looked up. And it was paralyzing. I remember suddenly being filled with a billion memories, standing in the same driveway and looking up. My dad and I trying to locate the big dipper, or my mom and I following the belt in Orion to find Taurus. I remember being out there coming home from a vacation, or walking the dog, or coming in from playing with friends, or getting back from a school dance. I never really noticed that every time I come home I get out of the car and look up. But I do. And I don't think about it ever. There are no stars to speak of in Boston, and I certainly don't stand outside staring at an empty sky. It doesn't ever cross my mind, until I turn into that driveway and get out of my car and look up at the star-filled sky. And remember every one of the million times I've done that before. And that's when I am back home.