Thank you for the thank yous

In case you missed it, the piece focused on the socio-economic changes that followed the loss of the town’s sole industry several years ago.

Some of those changes included the eviction of my parents from the place they have called home for more than 30 years.

I have been inundated with reader comments since the date of publication. In fact, I don’t think I have ever received more feedback on anything I’ve ever written for a newspaper during the past 15 years. With the exception of one e-mail chiding me for not sticking to Augusta-area news (“...I really don’t care about your hometown...”), all the comments I have received have been complimentary and heartfelt.*

At first, I was a bit surprised by all the reaction. After all, the social upheaval caused by job losses in a town 1,650 miles away has little impact on the lives of Augusta-area residents. However, after speaking with many of you, I have come to realize that nearly everyone, whether they live in a trailer park or a gated mansion, can relate to the column’s underlying themes: the cause-and-effect of industrial decline, a child’s concern for aging parents and the very concept of what we call “home.”

I rarely comment on what I write (I prefer to let readers have the last word), but in this case, I feel the need to say something about the kind words from everyone who called or wrote to me about the column: Thank you.

* The column also helped me reconnect with my childhood best-friend, whom I had lost touch with over the years. We failed to reunite during my recent visit, but he posted a blog reply reminding me of something I forgot long ago: That we entombed a coffee-can “time capsule” inside the block wall of my mother’s home. I’m hopeful it can be retrieved before she moves. I’d like to know what we put inside it.