Monday, December 16, 2013

Our recent move to Kentucky.

Some say "Home is where you hang your hat". I've done that for the majority of my life. I've always gone to where the work was. I've hung my hat on a lot of hooks. Others say "Home is where the heart is". My heart has always been in Kentucky. Every trip home left me more homesick than the last. The late Kentucky Governor, Albert "Happy" Chandler once said, "I Never Met A Kentuckian Who Wasn't Either Thinking About Going Home Or Actually Going Home".
 
Sandy and I have discussed moving back for years. I would work as a freelance artist and maybe start teaching workshops. We both lost loved ones over the past year and it made us realize that life is short and the future is now. After a bit of discussion we decided that if we don't do this now we might regret it later. The idea seemed right and crazy at the same time. We've done "crazy" before. There just seemed to be a certain comfort in this "crazy " though. When I lived in MA, I lived across the street from an old cemetery. I use to love going for walks there. Headstones usually say something about the dearly departed. Usually written by a surviving family member. "Beloved mother, father, son, Grandmother..." I never read one that said "He wasn't much of a family man but he had a good job and lived out of town most of his life".
 
Middle age often make people re-assess their lives and their priorities. So I asked myself what was important. Spending time with my family, being happy with who I am and what I do as well as simply trying to be a good person. The simple basics combined with comfortable and familiar surroundings. I've learned to never say "never".  But for now I can say I'm home once again and I am happy.