Way Down South

What I will miss about the South. This is a question I have thought about over the last few weeks. I will miss the way people politely laugh even if they don't get your joke. I will miss being the one who doesn't have an accent and people saing "hey" with more than one syllable. I will miss the stories, thick with descriptions and innuendos. I will miss the kind of familiarity people offer one another in the South, "the kindness of strangers" I like making eye contact and saying , "hello" to everyone. I will miss the open expressions of compassion that I always hear. Every August I will miss my crepe myrtles that are in full bloom. I think everyone should eat more barbecue, and hush puppies. I will miss the deep rooted history they love here. I will miss the humidity when I begin to shed like a snake. I will miss the long, detailed stories with lots of dialogue and good one -liners. I will miss country dirrections, and "bless your heart" I will miss being called Miss Melissa, and the children saying "yes Ma' am, and no Sir. I will miss the people who I have come to love so much here. They are as close as family. They have been friends and surrogate grandparents to our children and guess what, they always will be. I know we will take so much more from the South than what we will leave behind.

So, you might have guessed it. We will no longer be the Mississippi Stickler's, more like the Layton, Utah Sticklers.