The New Life: Home Sickness

Today I find myself missing Omaha. The whole time I lived in Omaha I really wanted to be in Alliance. Now that I live in Alliance, my hometown, I find myself really wishing I lived in Omaha. Don’t get me wrong I’m fairly happy here. I have a good job that I enjoy most days and I live on the family ranch and ride my horses everyday. I can see the stars at night and watch the sunrise and set in the hills. I have great friends here. I’m happy, I posses inner peace, something that never existed within me in Omaha.

When I start to miss Omaha it’s usually because I’m missing someone or some place in Omaha. Right now it’s the girl I consider to be my best friend. She’s going through a really tough time. Her job has become really hard on her, she and her high school sweetheart broke up, she is now a single parent, and her mother is on her death bed. Kells got me through a lot in high school. I met her the day after we moved to Omaha. She became my confidant; the one I knew was always in my corner. If anyone can read me like a book, it’s her. I don’t have siblings, well except for Kells, she’s the closest thing to a sister I’ll ever have. I wish I could wrap her in a hug and reassure her she’s going to make it through. I wish her life would get easier. I wish I could be in Omaha right now just for her.

The place I miss most is the shooting range. I could drive to it on my sleep. I could shoot the range with my eyes closed. I can still hear Sonny’s laugh and smell her cigarettes. I can hear the arrows flying down range and the classic rock playing over the stereo. I can still picture most of the regulars and see F Street out the front windows.

The second place I miss is the horse barn in Elkhorn. I can still hear the sleeping horses and the sound of tack and buckles hitting the rails. I can hear Brenda providing orders to her clients down in the arena. I can smell the horses and feel the wood shavings against my skin. I can feel the breeze flow through the aisles and hear the tractor rumbling out in the paddocks. I can see Amy’s smile and her happy appy standing in the cross ties.

The last place I miss is home. My momma’s home was always my sanctuary. I can still feel the carpet between my toes and see the yard through the windows, sunlight streaming in warming the cockles of my heart and soul. I can feel the purest happiness as I snuggle on her couch and watch House or Ghost Hunters or Real Housewives. I can feel the sticky keyboard of the computer I did most of my homework on. I can smell dinner cooking in the oven. Happiness, pure happiness is what I feel the most.

What I miss the most about Omaha is the activity and the availability. If you want to go do something on the weekend, there’s something locally to do. If you break your bow or lose a piece of tack there is a store open. If you want to plant the most beautiful flower bed in town there is a nursery. Need to fix something in the house; well you’ve got a few home repair stores to choose from. Need a new rifle, there are six outdoor stores locally, you don’t even have to cross the river! And you feel like having a drink and going to gamble, well lets cross the bridge and waste the night at the casino.

I miss the events, the taste of Omaha, the farmers market, the art in the park. I miss the mounted police and the horse drawn wagons in old town. I miss people not knowing where my hometown is, “Alliance is that even in Nebraska?” I just miss Omaha.

I wish I could transplant a piece of Omaha right here to Alliance. I'd transplant Kells or bring Momma home for good. Maybe I'd bring the taste of Omaha here or even Shakespeare on the green. I'd bring old town here or Spaghetti works. Maybe the bow shop Woods and Waters or the tack store The Paddock. How about Funny Bone comedy club. I suppose that would never work. But I do have a small piece of Omaha with me, it's my Bellevue East t-shirt, guess I'll go put that on and see if it helps.

They say the only remedy for homesickness is to go home. Sometime soon I’ll have to pack my bags and escape for a few days. Escape back to the place that used to be the most dreaded place in the entire world. Would I move back? I dunno, am I ready to visit, hell yes… So watch out Omaha here I come!

Becks