Sweaters

Sometimes, home and school are like two favorite sweaters that you can't take when you leave each place. And in a "grass is always greener" moment, you're wishing you had the other one.

The sweater at home...oh, you've had it forever. Your mom and grandma took you shopping and helped you pick it out; you wore it when you had your first real date, while you took your ACT. It has a little tear on the elbow where it caught a nail during play rehearsal and a stain at the wrist from the time you baked cookies for the entire basketball team. And when you're stressed about finals, all you can think about is how good it's going to be to get home and wrap up in that sweater. So excited that you're not feeling bad about leaving that new sweater you bought right after you left home.

That sweater isn't quite as beat up. It's comfortable, but not worn in yet and sometimes, you get a little worried about wearing it because you're not sure you picked the right one. It's a fun little sweater though, and it makes you happy to wear it. You've had some great times in it.

So you get home, you put on the old sweater...and you look in the mirror and realize that all the places where it used to fit just right don't feel so right anymore; the color is wrong, the style is outdated, and that hole from the nail is aggravating. All you want is to have that nice new sweater you have, the one that is locked up miles and miles away in your dorm room.

The problem is, you just can't wear them both at the same time. It's one or the other. And this is where my analogy ends. Because I can't think of a good way to solve that problem.