I always have expectations when I return to Montana. About how I’ll spend my time, who I’ll spend my time with, what sort of work I will be able to complete and all of that stuff. I don’t remember a single time that my expectations have been fulfilled, but it always ends up being in the best possible ways. 

This time, I went back to my hometown expecting to spend a good amount of time with my family. My parents and sister and brother-in-law were all going to be around for the holidays and I thought it would be fun to hang around them. I had recently made contact with an old acquaintance from Helena and expected to spend a bit of time with him. I had some deep roots with families and friends and expected a visit with them briefly, at the very least. And yet, what surprised me the most is that I ran into so many faces that I hadn’t seen in years.

To familiarize you with the nature of social interaction in my hometown I’ll do my best to frame it for you: The only way to get away from people that you know, is to escape into the mountains. Even then, it’s not a guarantee. Though I have been gone for nearly six years, with sporadic visits within that time, I still saw familiar faces everywhere I went. I found that the most amazing thing was going out in the evening. There are really only so many places one can go and stay into the early morning. Because of this going out for the night is, as one old friend said, “like going to a class reunion, but for the entire high school”. 

It was insane. And fun! To have a few good laughs and some very inexpensive beer was spectacular. I was pretty happy about being able to run into some folks that I’ve had no contact with since I graduated from high school. After the many conversations I had I’m extremely proud of everyone I knew in Helena. By and large, it seems that many people are doing what they absolutely love to do. Whether it’s compromising a lucrative career for your ethics, teaching, synthesizing proteins, attending law school, planning public transit, or serving at a restaurant, people really seem to be loving it. And it makes me realize that there’s something innately wonderful about growing-up Montanan. I’ll never quite know if it’s the values, the big sky, the community or what exactly, that made us who we are. But going back to it, and realizing that I share something quite deep and spectacular with a few hundred-thousand folks; It makes me all the more proud of the place that saw me grow up, and that I come from that place.