The fact that I am moving to D.C. in the morning necessitates an entire post in tribute of Kentucky, which is truly the greatest state. Recently Lyman and I went to Friday lunch at Beaumont Inn with our grandparents and I was overwhelmed once again by how beautiful Kentucky is. I love the rolling hills with long ribbons of roads or rivers winding through them. I love the pastures dotted with foals and the swaying green fields of tobacco.  I love that my town mayor has been mayor longer than I have been alive and that the sign welcoming you to Wilmore says “Welcome to Wilmore: Jesus Loves You.”  I love growing up around the places where both my grandparents, and my parents, met and fell in love. This is home.

Over the past 6 years, lots of other places have been home too, but this is the one that has roots, that isn’t just the people.  Yes, home is wherever the people you love are, but when I think about the town where I have grown up, I realize that home is also this very physical plot of land, shaped by the people I love.