Why we come all the way to hometown

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Hello friends, nice to see you all after the holiday. During this holiday, I spent Six days to visit family members at hometown, in which 42 hours' was exhausted car-driving, besides, we may have to pay several tickets for speeding. This is just one of the sacrifices of going back to hometown. You can see My figure is bigger than before because of days of banquets. And I also encountered the embarrassing situation that I was strongly persuaded to have the second child. Even so, why we came all the way to hometown? Some may say it is Chinese people's nature or culture. Yes, it is the nature side. I agree on this opinion but didn't figure out how it works. After years of observation and thinking, I feel I have found some clues.

Firstly, it is about loneness. Every year when we went back to hometown, there would be banquets from the day we arrived to the day we left. My husband has three sisters and one brother, and two cousins . During our stay, they and their husbands or wives, and their children gathered together with us, almost twenty persons. We had lunch together, we had supper together. They chatted, ate, drunk, smoked and played poker game. In the first few years after I married with my husband, I couldn't get used to this kind of reunion. I don't like the smoking and drinking, I don't like they yelled to each other. But years after years, when the world is becoming cold. This party is still steaming hot. It makes us warm. They know fish is my husband's favorite food, and ordered all kinds of fish dishes for him, although the tastes were not as good as Chengdu's. Surrounded by these enthusiastic relatives, shared with each other's joys and sorrows, you feel you are not alone. You do have people.

Secondly, it's because the past needs to be succeeded. At hometown, you saw familiar faces and places, memories became vivid. Especially for our son, he got  to know the past which was before his birth. We visited his grandpa's tomb and asked him to kowtow before the gravestone. We visited the old house where his father was growing up. His aunt told him my husband's childhood stories. He was so interested that Even the big father used to be a cry baby. Even the game-player daddy has a struggling teenager. Most important of all, he knew where his parents come from, and then he will know where he comes from. It means a lot, a man without a past is a man without a soul. Going back to hometown let the separated pieces got connected, let the generation succession overcome the space limitation.

Last but not least, it's about repaying parents. Before we started from Chengdu, my husband and I were shopping in the supermarket to buy some moon cakes. I suggested to buy well-known good taste moon cakes but with plain packaging. My husband preferred the one with luxurious packaging. He told me his mother would be happier to see than to eat. I understood but not well understood until I saw my mother-in-law placed the package bag carefully after we ate the moon cakes. I saw  delight on her face. Because of diabetes, she only had one bite. During our stay, every night before going to bad, my husband accompanied his mother to watch TV dramas. He never did this with me. I saw peace on his face. We all have the nature of repaying our parents, sometimes, it doesn't require much money and efforts. Just Go home.

Before we left the hometown , we went to my parents' apartment. I showed my son the old photo albums of me and my original family. My son wanted to take some to Chengdu. I told him we will come back again, these will always be here.

Hometown is the place you may leave away, but can't forget or cut off. You have blood relation here, here you have past to hand down and parents to please. No matter how crowded the journey back is, we will start once more.