I’m Still Here

there is something about being
where you used to be yesterday
as you are today
a return home
to say
i’m still here

.. .. ..

In 2008 I left Florida, the only home I knew, at the age of 18 for Wisconsin.

When I arrived in Wisconsin I was often asked why I would ever leave Florida.

Soon, I began to wonder as well.

I stepped into the uncertain and unknown and each step I took seemed to change me.

My eyes slowly began to open to a new way of living and talking and eating.

My friendships and relationships changed.

My outlook on life began to shift.

When I would return to Florida during school breaks and holidays I noticed I wasn’t who I was when I was last home.
I had changed.
I had been changed.
My hometown seemed the same, but I wasn’t.

For better or worse.

I wasn’t the same.

And I’ve never been the same.

It has been close to 12 years since I left home and when I return to Florida I can’t help but look back on years of change and say, “I’m still here.”

I’m still here.

Words worth writing down.
Words worth screaming.
Words worth holding onto.

Florida will always home.
And I will always be me.

And it’s beautiful to be where you used to be and to be there differently.

Peace,

Tanner Olson
Written to Speak

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