Alexandria, a town 46 miles northeast of Indianapolis, population 5,145. It's a town that is hated by many and under appreciated by most. It's a little town in Madison County and it is home.
In that town there is a park at that park every year is a 4-H fair it's one week out of the summer where the county is united, the food is unhealthy and the friends are many. At that park is where I celebrated my marriage with my best friend. It's where we danced and laughed and ate donuts galore. Around that park is a paved path, it's a path I've ran on many times, it's the same track I walked with my mother during my awful teenage years as she cried and told me her fears for me. It's a park where my high school friends and I would walk or swing, it's the place where we wen to spend time together. Next to that park is a cemetery and my best friend is buried there. At the tender age of 11, that park showed me how fragile life was and to appreciate the special ones in your life.
In this town there are ball diamonds, both at the high school and out behind the middle school. On those diamonds for many many summers, I challenged myself as a ball player. I hit home runs, I laid down bunts, I caught pop flys and I made some of the best friends and memories I could imagine. In this town is a bowling alley. At this bowling alley I practiced many days out of the week and found myself and my team at the high school bowling finals 3 of my 4 years of high school. At this towns high school I met people who would impact my life.....if only for a season.
Most importantly in this town on Harrison Street, sits a church, a building....a building that I love so much. But more than that building, I love the people in the building. This church has been "home" since I was in 2nd great. Those walls have heard the deepest prayers of my soul, they have seen my tears - both happy and sad. The carpet of that church has felt my kneeling knees and that wooden altar up front has caught my sobs as I cried and as I prayed. That church created the most amazing friendships with the most amazing people to ever cross my path. The church introduced me to the Zents, the one family who I will ever be thankful to that church for, but it has led me to so many amazing people. This is the church I was baptized in, the church that when Justin and I bring our child home will be dedicated in.
The people in Alexandria have touched my heart, I know that it's not a booming town like it once was. But this town has made me who I am. If it wasn't for Alexandria, I wouldn't know my husband, I wouldn't be married to my best friend. If it wasn't for Alexandria I wouldn't have the support system that I have, I wouldn't have felt the prayers that have walked my life's journey with me, I wouldn't have felt the embrace of a hug from someone I love so dearly.
If it wasn't for Alexandria, I wouldn't be the person I am, that small little town molded me. So while many people hate it and can't wait to leave, I look forward to going back and I hate leaving. I love Alexandria and I know that no matter where this life takes me, that town will always be home, my heart will always belong there.
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