Love Always, From Mayberry

Preface

You know how when you were a child, adults always try to give you a false sense of security? They tell young children that they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up. When you are a child and your first pet dies-its only sleeping. Nothing or no one that you love could possibly be gone forever.

Maybe we all give ourselves a false sense of security. God knows my mom could never be accused of this. In her words "she never sugar coats anything", actually, I think she sometimes makes situations sound much worse than they really are. Anyway, being from a small town does sound innocently sugar coated right? After all, small towns are meant to be peaceful. This particular small town, that I was to be residing in, even has a sort of sugar coated nickname that gives one a false sense of security. Tourist come daily to ride in an old cop car, eat at Quick Lunch and see the beautiful, historical town of Mayberry. Mayberry was made somewhat famous due to one of their own making it to Hollywood. George Lovell grew up in Mayberry and apparently was a famous actor back in the day. I'd never heard of him. I'm guessing he was a cop in a movie or television series given all of the pomp about the Mayberry cop car.

Driving to Mayberry high school on the first day of my junior year was a turning point in my life. I almost wish I could go back; maybe I could change things if given a second chance. Common sense telling me I could never change the past, I continued to indulge in the memory.

It was probably well over ninety  degrees in Mayberry that day and probably fewer than fifty in my little old Toyota Camry given how high I had the air conditioner running. I was definitely not used to the heat and humidity that Mayberry offered, I don't think I ever will be. They advertise this town as friendly. I don't see how anyone could be friendly in this type of heat.

Mayberry is such a strange town. The weather is more random than any other town in the United States or so it seemed to me, but then I haven't been many places. It was true, however, one day it was snowing and the next day it felt as if you were in the tropics. Over the summer months (and sometimes past) it was nothing but pure awful stifling heat and humidity. I couldn't wait for autumn to arrive.

This town, Mayberry, is almost like a scapegoat to the citizens who reside there. I wanted to be left alone and to take shelter from the heat. I wanted to go back home, to the mountains.

I loved my old, mountain town. The weather was cold and predictable. You always knew what the weather was going to be like the next day. The mountains were beautiful; they gave one a sense of serenity.

Mayberry wasn't complete hell; it was just like the town itself was confused. All the stores and shops advertised Mayberry as a small black and white town with no problems. Truth is, from what I've seen Mayberry is a colorful town with colorful people. I had lived in a small town my entire life thus far and Mayberry just didn't seem that way to me. Yet it didn't have a big city feel either. It was as if Mayberry didn't really want to be Mayberry anymore, but they couldn't let it go. It was like the town had to live up to a reputation. Upon arriving to school that first day, I wondered when the people of Mayberry would realize, Mayberry didn't exist.