Just the other morning…I realized how much I appreciate living in Moulton, AL…the town of my birth…and raising…as we say in the south…
Moulton, AL…the same town that I’ve spent most of my life trying to get out of…but always seem to come home to…
I’ve been back six years this time…and looks like I’ll be here a while longer…and that’s okay…the wanderlust of my younger years has past…there is just something about seeing the same things that I’ve seen over and over again since my youth…that has become soothing…it’s like the town has a rhythm…a music…of its own…
Like all towns…it is changing…old landmarks are coming down…and new ones are going up…it’s happening at a pace that works…sort of like growing old…you just don’t notice what’s happening…until one day you are…and then…it seems natural enough…
And…I realize…that like the town…I am changing at a pace that works for me as well…some of my old…well-worn…comfortable habits are coming down…and new unfamiliar ones…are taking their place…
There is something so comforting about knowing…and being known…it suits me…so…why…I wonder…did I leave so many times…what was that wanderlust all about…
I can’t totally answer that…but…I think it had something to do…with not feeling like here was enough…that I wasn’t enough…and…that somehow…I could be more…somewhere else…
What I’ve found out…over the years…is what Mama knew before I left…where ever you go…you take yourself with you…you can be happy or sad…rich or poor…educated or illiterate…wherever you are…
It’s who you are…not where you are…that makes the difference…
So…do I love all the changes in the town…not totally…I miss the old Star Theater…even though it’s been empty some 40 years…but…the new Courthouse will be wonderful…and was much needed…
Do I love all the changes in me…not totally…I miss some of my old habits…even though they haven’t served me in about as long…but…I really do embrace…the new habits…they are wonderful…and much needed…
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment