When we return to places we knew as children, we are often surprised at how different these places seem.

I was born and raised up in Kearny, which is in north Jersey, about an hour and a half from where I live now. I lived in Kearny for twelve years of my life and when I was there, I thought it was the best thing ever. My grandmother and I would walk around town and go to the library and the Dunkin' Donuts all the time. Now whenever I go up there to visit my family, I see how much the town changed. When we first lived there, the town majority was Italian, now it's the minority. The park that I used to go to by my house isn't safe anymore, there are constant drug deals and (this is going to sound very racist) but there is never any Caucasian in the park anymore. The town used to be so clean and now there's garbage on the streets and so many places have either gone out of business or have moved out of town. I hate going up there because it changed so much. I was so used to the town and how it used to be that now I really can't stand taking that drive up there.