Home is somewhere that’s changed a lot for me over the years, a trend that’s only accelerated as I’ve gotten older. Higher education has taken me farther and farther away from Cary, North Carolina and seems intent on taking me farther. It’s one of the many reasons I treasure getting to come back home for the holidays and walk through spaces so laden with memories. That warm feeling of home and belonging is part of what brought this piece to life. As I started writing, the tune reminded me of the kind of music you’d hear in the first town of a Pokémon game. There too, the main character ventures out on a journey across a vast land meeting new friends and facing fierce challenges. At the end of every game though, after the credits roll, the player character gets to go back home. I’ll Fly Home is infused with those cozy memories, a touch of the trials along the way, yet above all the well-earned rest by the end.