Recently, I was told (in a highly passive-aggressive way) that I was "unattractive" for talking so badly about Louisiana, and that this person thought that I felt I was better than everyone else solely because I moved away from the state. I don't talk bad about the whole state, I just call it how I see it. I'm blunt, and I'm honest. Now, I grew up in this town, lived there for 19 years before I married my husband and moved out of state. While I lived there, I knew nothing else. This was "home" and I had friends, family, and good times. Once I left, however, I learned that there is so much more outside of "A-Town", and that many people seem to have become stuck in a life and a town that is going nowhere. The town is dead. It reeks of despair, drugs, and dirtyness.
Actual house in downtown A-town.
There are obvious drug and prostitution deals going down on many street corners and even the "nicer" neighborhoods are either going downhill or are so far out on the city limits that you can't even say you live there.
As soon as we crossed into the city limits, my 3 children started whining and griping...I was thinking, "yeah, I know the feeling"....this is not the town I remember growing up in. It's depressing to look at. The friends I grew up with either have lives elsewhere or make no attempt at keeping in contact. The family I have there is sparse now, mainly because certain family members want nothing to do with me anymore...likely because of my blunt opinions. I've been told that I'm no longer their "child/sister/etc." because I chose to move away.
In the end, I stayed one night, then drove back home to my pleasant city just north of Dallas. The party for PawPaw rocked, I enjoyed seeing my husband's side of the family, but when it comes down to it....
The best part of going was leaving.
