A hometown compliment can quietly ask why you ever needed to leave.

Some praise carries a question folded inside it. Being told you have done well, in a place you left, can arrive with a faint suggestion that leaving was a judgement on everyone who stayed. Often nothing of the kind is intended, and often something of the kind is felt on both sides. Moving away is an ordinary decision that can be read as a verdict, which is why these conversations get delicate so quickly.

When you go back, talk about what you miss rather than what you have achieved. And if a remark stings, it is usually about the distance rather than about you.