Restless Moons Podcast

Pale Fire Podcast

Maddy Piovano (MP): Home means something different to each of us. Here today is Bailey Butler, a fellow JMU Duke, explaining what home means to her. She lives about two hours from JMU. 
Bailey Butler (BB): So I’m from Short Pump, Virginia, um, and a lot of people from my area and like surrounding areas say Richmond because we’re just like outside the city limits. Um, so when I come here, there’s a lot of people from Virginia so I have to specify that I am from Short Pump, not Richmond. So I’m like kind of in between the mountains and the beach. It’s a good driving distance between each.
MP: Have you lived there your whole life? 
BB: Yea. Born and raised.  
MP: What is the most unique thing about your hometown?
BB: My parents would tell me, like, Short Pump used to just be like a schoolhouse and like farms. Slowly, the city of Richmond is just creeping in down into Short Pump and down into like the farmlands so growing up I’ve seen all of this like development and retail just like creep down. But, like, one cool thing is that there is still a farm in the middle of it all. Um, and they just like decided to stay there and you know wait it out and their land is probably worth millions. I’m planning to go back um and then just kind of like get myself settled, work at my job that I had been working at. Just get a little money, get myself settled, and then start applying for jobs. Hopefully I’ll stay in Richmond, but I mean I’ll go wherever the wind takes me. 
MP: That’s smart. Take a little break. I feel that. 
BB: So whenever I drive back from JMU I always like get off on the same exit obviously. And just like I slowly creep around the corner, and just like seeing everything, and like everything that reminds me of growing up and reminds me of my family and my friends and you know all the other kind of good stuff that makes you feel like warm and cozy inside is just like kind of the best feeling about going home to somewhere where I grew up my whole life. 
MP: And that’s Bailey’s hometown. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Home is a special place, or rather, a special feeling.

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