What a coincidence...I'm from Jim Wells County in Texas. A lil ole speck called Alice down in oil country between Corpus, Kingsville, and San Antonio. Texas is were all of my family is.

WV is a whole 'nother world! It's got beauty and fresh air and quiet like no where else I've lived...and I've lived a lot of places! TX, SC, CA, NM, OH, DE, NH, ME, Turkey, Japan...and I'm sure I've left one or two places out. Yup, I still miss Texas when I get to head south to visit. When I get there, I wonder why I ever left...till I get home to WV then I realize what I have.

Not having a comfortable and regular job sure puts a crimp in everybody's style! But I learned a long time ago...you gotta go where the job sends ya. Once you get there, you do the best to make it kinda like the home you fondly remember! Somewhere in my garage, there's an empty Lone Star bottle...a wreath made of barbed wire...and other little reminders of where I'm from. When I come across one, it makes me stop, smile, and go back down memory lane. BUT...here is where I live, so this is home. Now, I invite the relatives to come up north and experience the mountains. I take them white water rafting...and horse back riding...and hiking in the mountains...and they leave impressed.


But I still call Texas "home" and always will.

Hang in there Pal...I like what Buster said before me, there are all sorts of folks with bigger problems, and they'd give an arm and a leg to be in your shoes! Be thankful for what you do have, and pray for everything else.

Joe