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I wanted out. 

I wanted more,

I wanted fresh, shiny, and new. 

My 18-year-old heart felt guarded. Felt limited. Felt like the potential inside was greater than the parameters of LaPorte, Indiana. I remember graduation day vividly. From waking up with butterflies to zipping up my polka dotted dress and heading out to pick up my best friend, Hannah-- I see it like a motion picture in my mind. We twirled in our gowns before making way to the school. When my name was called, a sense of blurred peace washed over my soul. Freedom! I finally had the chance to re-write my story in Indianapolis, where I would be going to college and building a new life. 

I spent that summer attending graduation parties and shopping for dorm supplies with my besties. I went to family cookouts and ate way too much ice cream. Though I was eager to leave, I knew that there would be some very special people I couldn't take with me. I also understood that this new journey wouldn't allow time for frequent visits.

I remember packing up my bedroom, in my beautiful childhood home. That room went through every stage of growing up that I did. From barbie wallpaper to fluorescent orange and tie dye to purple and yellow to a mature gray... those walls described it all. And in those final moments of packing, I knew they'd never be my walls again. They wouldn't hear my nightly prayers or my awful karaoke skills. They wouldn't be filled with snickering and gossip from best friend sleep overs. And they wouldn't be decorated with my memories. 

As I sat in the drivers seat of my car, I took a last glance back. My neighborhood. My home. My family. My dogs. My friends. My safety zone--- getting farther and farther away through that rear-view mirror. I was terrified. But I was ready. 

Three years later, I'm finishing up my undergrad career. This summer will be my last months at home. Forever. Graduate school in the fall. Traveling after that. I'm honoring the wishes of my 18-year-old heart. It's happening. Even though the plan is set...there are a few things I wanted to share before I say good-bye to LaPorte. I know it seems like an early good-bye, but if there's anything I've learned in college it's that time really does fly.

When I left home, I wanted to forget. I wanted a new page. I wanted a brand new book. I wanted to build a future with a sound foundation. What I didn't realize, though, is that foundation was already built... in LaPorte. 

The first piece came from my parents, who have supported and loved me since I was a newborn. Then came the bond I have with my baby brother. That foundation got a little stronger every time my great-grandma Adams would say, "Is that you, Kelsie?" when I walked through her front door, even though she was blind. It got stronger every time my Grandma Sandy invited me over to bake cookies- even though I was only good for licking the spoon. It was in every time my Grandpa Kenny made us his homemade popcorn and Grandpa Pat joked about having me clean his fish. It was every failed attempt at finishing the monkey bars and each monopoly game lost. 

That foundation got stronger every morning when I would walk onto Mrs. Herchey's bus, where she would greet me with a smile until 5th grade. It strengthened after the 8th grade dance, when I third wheeled it with my best friend, Julie. And it got stronger after she and I had lost that friendship, because we were just two different people. Through every weekend spent with Hannah and Sky to bonding time in the newspaper office senior year, where we would blare music and laugh uncontrollably at our bad jokes....the foundation continued to get stronger... all the way until that graduation day, where I felt like it all finally meant something. 

Every experience I've had in this small town -good or bad- has helped me to build the foundation I walk on today. It's given me the ability to put a future on it. And its strength is reinforced by everyone who has believed in me. 

I wanted a whole new book. But it was already started for me. Because I wrote on those pages-- with the help of some magnificent LaPorteans, who are the purest people I know to this day. And while the rest of the book will be inspired by various encounters and locations--- it all began right here...in LaPorte, Indiana. 

Though the ending has yet to be determined, it can be said that the first 21 chapters are beautifully crafted. Laced with laughter, sealed with tears, and written with love, the tale currently leaves readers at a cliff hanger: 

"You never really leave home. Because no matter how far you venture out into this beautiful world, it will always be a part of you. It will always be a part of me."