*expect punches and bruising upon going home

What's the saying? You can never go home again? I guess it's meant to say once you've lived elsewhere and had life-changing experiences, the place you grew up will never be the same. For me, it means you can't go home again without feeling like you've been pummeled by an irate ten year old and then kicked in the shins by his younger sister. And just as you're about to make it out the screen door, a rabid terrier clenches its teeth on your foot and you can't shake it free until you’ve slithered through the plane’s hatchway, the flight has been locked down and you can look back on the place you grew up from 15,000 feet in the air. Then you’re left to ruminate over the bruises as you mumble into a plastic cup empty of its gin and tonic.