There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest? — The Return of the King

My Take – It’s been 25 years this Halloween since I was last in North Dakota.  I have an image in my mind of what Grand Forks and Minot looked like on that day, and that’s the image I will probably always have.  But the small towns and cities I grew up in are long gone, and so is the boy I was then.  When I do go back, even if my hopes to someday live there again come true, I will come as almost a stranger.  No matter how many of my relatives live there and how many places I can look at and say “I remember this”, I will not be a true native anymore.