Monday, July 21, 2008

Richwood, WV



I always forget how much I love this town until I take the Sam Black Churchill exit off of interstate 64 and start driving the last hour of my trip. Once a town I visited as often as I could, sometimes spending weeks at a time, I now only get there a few days each year. It's when I start this last leg of my trip, passing though the small towns of Rupert and Netty, with winding mountain roads separating them, that I am instantly reminded of this slower way of life. There's no other way of describing the air other than fresh. It's instantly calming. Once I am there I always wonder why I don't go more often. It's a place that when you pass a stranger they look at you in the eye and smile warmly. When you pass another car on the road they automatically wave because more than likely they know you and your whole family. The only place to go "out" to eat is a Dairy Queen, unless you are going out for a nice dinner in which you would drive 30 miles to go to the Shoney's. And much to my amusement, Saturday nights still consist of cars packed with high school girls driving up and down Main Street and circling around town because that's just what you do for fun.



My mother was raised in this town, but I was not. She was the only one of six children to marry and move away. After I was born, though, the marriage failed and she brought me back with her. My time in Richwood was short lived, however, and as fate would have it I began my fourth year of life back in Virginia with my newly single-parent father. I often wonder how different my life would have been if she had lived to raise me there. Although I love my mother dearly and I would have given anything to have had her in my life so many times growing up, I am glad my life took this path. Sometimes I feel guilty for being thankful of that. I love that town, but I also realize how that town could have made me into a person so different than the one I am today. All I can do is be aware of it all and appreciate both equally.

During this visit I went to my mother's grave alone for the first time. When I found her I knelt down and was very surprised at the immediate emotion that came over me. I told her that I loved her and that I hope she would have been proud of me. I also said that if she was alive today I would take many pictures of her.

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