The chairs were empty and the crowd had long since gone. The final touches were being done on the banquet cleanup as I was getting ready to load my boxes into my car. Another successful speech given. Time to head home.
Cary Karlson was helping me. Cary’s the Executive Director of the Washington County Economic Alliance and is an entrepreneur and small business person. The last box was secured and we started talking about the challenges the Delta faces.
The Delta is a land of extremes. You get crippling ice storms and searing heat. There’s extreme poverty and wealth. Great writers come from there. And there are pockets of illiteracy. It has crushing conditions that gave birth to the Blues. People dream of leaving it and yet love it at the same time. Rich earth grows both bumper crops and giant weeds.
There’s flat ground in the Delta but not much middle ground.
It’s one thing to read about it. It’s another to experience it. I get overwhelmed by the vastness of its horizons. It’s almost like you can see the future but it’s too far away. I’m a hill guy myself. But I love the people there.
So does Cary.
Cary is bullish on them and their potential. He’s not a Pollyanna. He knows the challenges and is working to confront them head on. He gets excited telling me about new development and workforce training. It’s the Carys of the world that make their communities tick.
It seems like an overwhelming task to me. As we parted company, I asked him one last question, “Why do you do what do?”
He looked at me and smiled, “Because this is home.”
I don’t think there is a truer statement in the world. It explains why so many Mississippians work so hard to make this place better.
Because this is home.