Wonder Years

A few notes from my trip to Clinton, Mississippi – the town I grew up in:

• I spent my first 15 years in Mississippi and my most recent 15 years in Georgia (Yes, I’m almost 30. Shut it.) Clinton/everything else I saw in Mississippi seems to have taken a downward turn commerce wise in the last 15 years. A lot of the businesses that were there when I was growing up are closed. And there is not like newer more up to date businesses in their place either. I am talking about where there used to be a grocery store there is now a Big Lots. Ouch. Although there was a Starbucks by the interstate of course. So maybe it’s not all a downward turn.
• The roads are still bad
• The girls are still beautiful
• I went to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve at the church I grew up in – First Baptist Church of Clinton. That was cool. I couldn’t resist walking the halls to see some of the old classrooms that I sat in when I was little and it was especially memorable to see one of the first playgrounds that I ever remember playing on still there in the same old spot. And I also saw the street by the church that I ran across after letting go of my mom’s hand one morning after church when I was real little. She said she blistered my backside for that. And she also said I never did it again.
• I also drove by the old junior high school that I attended before we moved to Georgia. It is not in use anymore although the buildings are still there…I saw the classroom where I took my first algebra class and the band hall where I played my first note on a trumpet.
• It was great to see some members of my family that I have not seen in several years. Especially the cousins that are a little closer to my age who I really remember spending the most time with when I was younger. One of my cousins is getting married this summer, one is at the University of Memphis getting a masters in Directing and one is married and living in Scotland getting his masters in theology from the University of Aberdeen. It was good to catch up with them.
• Overall, everything I saw just seemed smaller and older. I love it how everything seems larger than life through a kid’s eyes.

It is funny to wonder where I would be today if I had stayed in Mississippi and my dad had NOT relocated to Georgia in the summer of 1992. I probably would have gone to Ole Miss or LSU. But the whole arts marketing thing. Who knows? I complain about Atlanta not supporting the arts I can’t imagine promoting theatre in Jackson, Mississippi.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. Warren, do you still have that same look on your face?