Come Home

Remember a time when life was simpler? When pleasures were simpler, but somehow longer lasting? Or maybe you didn't grow up in Middle America like I did. Maybe you think Andy Griffith and Ozzie and Harriet were idealized depictions of a time and place that never really existed.

Well,you'd be wrong. I grew up in that place -- and like most children growing up, accepted my life and the communities it played out in as normal -- as "just the way it is."

But then I grew up, took my Iowa education and went to work in Chicagoland for a Fortune 500 company. And a spart of that work, I traveled all around the world on their money. It was a delightful and amazing life for many years.

But for various personal reasons, when the buy-out offer came, I took it. And that buyout was generous enough that I could do what most only dream of -- I could live comfortably anywhere in the world. Having seen most of the world, the decision was still and easy one. I came home -- back to Iowa. And I came home for lots of reasons that I didn't even know were important until later. I came home to vibrant small tons and a summer concert series in Band Shell Park performed by the all-volunteer city band. I came home for world-class theatrical productions in the NIACC auditorium. I came home to a waitress who can put my breakfast order in as soon as I open the door. I came home to smiling toddlers in footy pajamas learning to clap to a J.P. Sousa march. I came home to an entire county of people who show up annually for Relay for Life. I came home to hometown festivals . . . . That's right. I came home.

All those things you're missing, or never had, are yours right now for the exploring.

Come home. Come to the Villages of Franklin County. Stay for a little or stay for a lot. And find a slice of Americana you thought only still existed in your dreams. It's no dream. Visit and see memories come alive: The Villages of Franklin County, Iowa.

Keri Holmes