When ever I visit Elkhart, my hometown it seems as though I have thoughts pulling me back in time. I am curious as to why these thoughts surface. I love my hometown, but I have made a home elsewhere and had moved away for close to forty years. I have many friends and constant activity in Dallas. None the less as I load up my car to head west towards Chicago, down the Indiana Toll Road I have these feelings of loss, or sadness.

When I think of Elkhart it is like many other small towns I have visited, but none draw me back. The only difference I see is the family that I love, and more friends there now than when I went to school there so many years ago. I love hanging out and spending time sometimes doing nothing at all but talking. So maybe it is not the town at all. Maybe it is the people that know me from the core.

Maybe it is the time spent with my dad and brother having pizza and then ice cream. It was plain old vanilla, but will always I remember the smile from my dad as I handed him the small bowl with the little chocolate syrup over the top. Maybe it is times I spend with my old high school friends Dave, Ted, Vickie, Melody, Beth talking about the past and what we all perceived as fact. The present, where we are with our families and the future, our hopes and dreams, vacations and times ahead to plan.

So I want to thank my friends and family for making “my hometown” something special to me.

Life cannot, and should not always be about work. It can be about moving forward in other areas of you life.

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. And don’t forget to spend a few days in your hometown. I am already planning my next visit.