Home

My concept of home has been a recent development in the mind. While I know our views on the aspects of our lives change frequently, I consider my concept of home to be relatively solid. Home, to me, is South Wilkes-Barre, PA; I have never lived anywhere else. However, when I think of “true” home nowadays, I don’t so much think of the town itself. I think of my family and friends with whom I share the hometown with; it’s the memories and connections that have the most meaning.

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This concept of home seems to clash with some of the characters’ (from the book, Now You See It...: Stories from Cokesville, PA) notions of their town. Annie and Theresa both yearn to escape Cokesville; they seem to want to move onto “bigger and better” places and lives. Annie’s way of leaving is a bit milder compared to Theresa’s, who chooses to live a seemingly superficial life as an actress. Annie instead tries to remain true to her dream of becoming a successful writer, even though she struggles majorly with finding a comfortable identity.

I believe the clash between my concept of home and these characters’ concepts is due to our experiences and perceptions of our towns. Quite frankly, Cokesville and its population have a tragic aura about them. The town has centered on grueling manual labor, such as steel making and coal mining; the livelihoods of the families in the area depended upon these strenuous and dangerous jobs. Especially during the time period the story is set (essentially 1950-1990), these industries defined the lives of most who lived in Cokesville. These industries, while providing needed income and steady work for a good number of years, were also the source of horrible deaths and terrible economic strains (as the industries shut down) which devastated families. When Annie and Theresa think of Cokesville, their home, I believe they cannot help but associate the entire tragic history of the town with their personal lives.

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While Wilkes-Barre does have a history of being in the coal region of Northeast PA, I grew up many generations removed from that time period. Wilkes-Barre nowadays, while certainly not the picture of a perfect town, doesn’t have such an atmosphere of desolation as Cokesville; it is practically thriving in comparison really, haha. As a result of this, my hometown has simply been the humble background of countless memories of my life; it hasn’t defined my life. I do acknowledge that where a person grows up certainly affects them indefinitely, however Wilkes-Barre hasn’t influenced my feelings on my home in a significantly intimate way.

Therefore in picking a college, I preferred to stay closer my hometown because I wanted to remain in close proximity to my family, not necessarily Wilkes-Barre itself. My preteen self would be quite shocked by this decision since I used to dream of going very far for school. I didn’t really imagine going to a famous city or exotic location, rather I just dreamed of “escaping” what I deemed to be boring, old Wilkes-Barre. I think everyone at some point in time gets tired of their surroundings and imagines that the grass is greener on the other side, haha.

I’ve come to appreciate Wilkes-Barre for what it is and how it has been my hometown. But like I said in the beginning, I focus on my family and friends when I think of the definition of “home”; wherever they are in my life, that’s where I consider myself at home. It’s interesting to read the book and see how people such as Annie and Theresa have been so deeply affected by their town; it’s unfortunate how the tragic aura of Cokesville has warped their perspectives on “home”.

Hopefully by the end of the book Annie and Theresa will make some peace with where they come from.

Home in my dorm