Simply Put

"Home "
As I wrote in last week’s column my wife is from Nicaragua and had not been back to the country in 30 years. She had not been back for a variety of political, family and financial reasons. But we bit the bullet and made the trip last week. It was quite a trip, or maybe adventure would be a better description. I hope you won’t mind, but I plan to take the next few weeks to write about our trip.
This was not a typical vacation and I’ll be the first to say it sure was good to come home. You know, sleep in my own soft bed, recline in my own recliner, take a hot shower and things of that nature. But it was also good to come home to Marianna and Jackson County, the place of my birth, my child hood and teenage years. The place where I have chosen to reside as an adult and raise my family.
I have a newfound appreciation for being home. My new found appreciation for being home is because of watching my wife for the past week. As I said my wife had not been back to Nicaragua in 30 years. From the late seventies until the early 90’s the country was ruled by a communist government. That communist government, known as the Sandinistas, came to power in a revolution that resulted in the death of my wife’s father. He was a pilot in the Nicaraguan Air Force and was killed in the early stages of that revolution. So with the Sandinistas in power, traveling back to Nicaragua was not an option for my wife.
The Sandinista’s fell out of power in the early 90’s but the country was still in turmoil. Add to that that our children were small and medical services in the country are poor at best. We just did not feel it was safe to take small children into that situation. Before we knew it 15 years had gone by and we still had not made the trip. So this year my wife proclaimed we were going and we did.
This was an emotional trip for my wife. For 30 years she had not been to the country to which she was raised as a young child and spent her summers as a teenager . She had not been to the grave site of her father. She had not been to the grave site of her grandparents, both of whom died since she was last in the country.
It made me realize that those of us who live in the same area in which we grew up are fortunate. We have roots and those roots are right here with us. We can see and touch those roots on a daily basis.
Simply Put, we’re home.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said that the same dog that brings a bone home will carry one away.