California Girl: Duck River Edition - Friends

 I've written of it before, but I'll say it again,  friendship is fluid; it is constantly changing.  I learned this truism a long time ago and this latest incarnation is no exception.  

I live in a very, VERY small town in central Tennessee now.  There are barely 2,000 people in the town and countryside around it that make up the city limits.  Moving here, we did not know a soul but we found a house we love and Krista, et al, live just 40 minutes down the road.

Since moving here, my people base has grown to include a church community, a nodding hello to new neighbors, shared friendliness with customers in the coffeeshop I enjoy, and hellos that delight me, from clerks at the grocery store who know me by name.

In eight weeks of living here, I've not felt lonely or isolated.  I see my daughter and her family all the time. I talk to my best friend, who lives in California, frequently, and I keep up with friends,  Mike and Jean, and Sr. Sharon who live in the town we left.

Looking back on the eight years in Caruthersville,  I found it very easy to say good-bye.  While I had many new experiences, and I fell in love with the life on the Mississippi River, the town, itself, never felt like home.  I learned that it is impossible to become a bona fide part of a community when you are surrounded by people with decades of living together.  This shouldn't be surprising to me but after several years of community involvement in one way or another, the net result of being valued was about zero.  This hurt me more for Don than for me.  He had nothing but good memories and dreams attached to his old home.  It was just another place for me and even though I left feeling deeply attached to three people, there was really nothing for me to miss or regret leaving behind. 

Life in Centerville has made me so much happier.  It helps that surroundings are so warm and welcoming. It helps that our home is so cozy.  And, it helps that Krista, Adrian, and the kids are so close at hand. Living here is so freeing that I'm actually donating stuff to a local thrift store (not to mention what I've tossed). Quanah and Erin were down from Indianapolis this past week and we'll be seeing more of them. So, in the process of reducing my life, I'm expanding my heart and letting everything that is new and fresh in, and letting so much that weighed me down lift up and float away.