Home Sweet Home?

I went back to my hometown for the week.  I arrived Tuesday and just made it back.  My town's population is less than 5,000 and surrounded by towns with populations of a couple hundred or less.  You have to travel at least 30-45 minutes to be able to find anything to do or any store that is open past 9 pm.  I mean, we still have an old school Walmart (the original store that was there when I was 4--not a supercenter) that they've debated closing for years due to slow business.  There are so few street lights that I have to strain my eyes to be able to travel.  There's only one traffic light that has been there since I was in preschool. Aside from the Walmart, we have two "dollar stores" (Family Dollar & Dollar General), one grocery store (I'm being very liberal with that term), and only one fast food restaurant (Sonic).  It's a farming community.  Can you say boring?  At least one perk is that there is virtually no violence.  When the ambulance is heard, people still run outside of their houses to follow its destination and the murders that occur once in a blue moon make the front page of the newspaper.  I have mixed feelings when it comes to returning there.  I am concerned about my family's well-being, but it takes a lot for me to stay there more than a couple of days.  This time around, I went to celebrate my nieces birthday.  I enjoyed seeing her little newly adolescent smile--she turned 10...you'll excuse me now while I hyperventilate!  Nah, she's a sweetheart--very responsible, intelligent, and sweet-natured...she's my heart!  Her mom is great too!  I love my sisters and the rest of my siblings so!  My mom is wonderful as well.  I'm reminded of how much she sacrificed and endured to give me the life that I have.  This is a woman who grew up so poor that she self-taught herself to sew in order to have more than one pair of undergarment.  She was a straight "A" student but was taken out of school before fully entering jr. high to work the fields to add to the family's income.  She endured a bunch of mess and abuse from my stepfather and went on to raise 7 children alone.  All of her children are well-known to be respectable, mannerable, and intelligent.    She put up with pompous and conceited people, who thought that she lacked intelligence due to her lack of formal education and formal speech and who talked down to her.  She has really had a hard life and abused her body in order to put food on the table, but she managed to do it all with a smile, laughter, and the love of Christ.  Children, to this day, flock to her.  She's a wonderful woman, for whom I cannot speak enough good things about.  And, she's so sweet, humble, and appreciative of the little things.  Since she did without for so long, I want so desperately to give her a few luxuries of pleasure.  I owe my very essence and big heart to her.  She truly lives up to her name "Sweet Sadie".