I'm not really sure what it is. Perhaps is that I miss the changing of the leaves. I remember every year when fall would come, my dad would rake and blow the leaves in the back yard and my sister, Kellie and I would run in the back yard and jump around in them. Maybe it's because I can't go to an apple orchard. A tradition of many in my hometown of Paducah, KY, was going to Schmidt's Farm, picking apples from the tree, taking a hay ride, and playing in hay stacks. And chances are it could be that some of my fondest memories of childhood are the annual Fall Festival at my school, Morgan Elementary. It always seemed as if it would fall on a night with the crisp autumn air was at its best. Or it could be because fall marks the beginning of college basketball season and I miss how excited we would get as the Cats began the road to the Final Four.
I guess there is a lot of truth to the saying that you don't know what you got until it's gone. I'm sure that I didn't always want to go to the apple orchard, that I thought the fall festival was uncool, and I would complain that that my dad was hogging the TV when the Cats played. I guess then, I didn't know that there would come a day when I would long for those moments.
Recently, someone questioned me as to why I love Kentucky basketball so much if I don't live there (as if to say that you must have a permanent residence somewhere to be a fan of their team). My response was simple. I politely looked at them and said, "If you left Louisiana, would you suddenly forget the things that made Louisiana special in your heart?" I think the understood after that.
Although I'm far away now and I truly believe that there is a reason as to why faith has taken me on the journey that it has. However, there will always be a piece of my heart that finds itself in the Bluegrass State.
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