Going "home"

Today we took the girls down to my Dad's. Two of them are staying there for a couple days. As we drove, the closer we got the more I started to have an internal reaction to getting closer to the place I grew up. Similar to how I felt,as a child, when we traveled any time. I always felt a bit more relaxed as we drove into the small town where I went to school. It was sort of like a peace, just knowing I was "home". Since my parent's divorce, in the times that I've been there, I have left feeling sad and aching. Most often in tears as I made it to the next small town. I've never really understood it...and I guess, even though my Dad is there, it bothered me because the sense of my mother was gone from there. I guess these few years later, I'm finally comfortable being there again without her. He seems to be spending more time putting flowers and bushes around the property and cleaning out the large flower garden Mom had grown. Today, I regained that feeling of peace. Ironically, putting it into words is making me quite emotional...but overall, the good memories presided today.