We visit her family about once a year because Tennessee is only a one day ride from Jacksonville. It's great to see her family as they are really nice folk. Real Southern hospitality. We spent the 4th of July there and had a relaxing time visiting, hiking, shopping and eating.On the 7th of July we arrived at my brother's home in Michigan. It takes two days of hard driving to get there from Jacksonville, one day from Tennessee. I hadn't seen my family in almost 15 years and my wife, Susan, hadn't been to see them in 29 years! How time flies.
We visited my family, found my old friend Tim Arble, stopped by my old neighborhood haunts and visited my Mom and Dad's graves. It was quite a shock seeing my old home town. Nothing looked the same except the Hobby Shop run by Mr. Doliber. Nothing had changed! The store had the same items in the windows and some of the items in the store were in their same locations. Mr. Doliber encouraged my love of comic books and art.
It's been said you can never go home again. I disagree. You can go home again. The only problem is, you can't recognize it or the people you once knew. Regardless, it was a wonderful trip that brought back many heartfelt memories of growing up in a small Michigan town around the people I still love and cherish. It was great seeing my brothers Rich and Jim and their kids and grandkids. I feel so old!If there is one word of wisdom I can leave with you it would be this. Life is short, so cherish your loved ones.