Look, I understand the composition does
not rival Beethoven. The lyrics do not threaten Hoagy Charmichael.
The singing—while excellent—cannot compare with Pavarotti. But
this song played on my stereo tonight and it reduced me to tears. I
sat there, weeping.
I know people who feel this way about
Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, New York, Vermont, Missouri, California. I
even know people who cry over New Jersey, though come to think of it,
this may be for other reasons.
I would love it if everybody felt this
way about the soil that sprung 'em. I have not lived on Hoosier turf
for almost twenty years. I genuinely love living where I do, but
something in me just longs for home at certain times of the year.
Christmas is one of those times. Today in a phone conversation, I
told a very good friend I was going home this week to visit family.
She said, “Mike, you have lived here for how long? Traverse City
IS
your home.” And I said, yes, it's one of my homes. But deep in my
DNA, Indiana will always remain my true home.
I
was born in Richmond, Indiana. I have also lived in Carmel, Bloomington
and Seymour. I know the mascots of so many Indiana high school
teams: Wildkats, Archers, Red Devils, Minute Men, Trojans,
Cougars and, of course, Indians. (Not the Huskers and if you have to
ask, sorry, you're not a died-in-the-wool Indiana prep basketball
fan.) My beloved German Shepherd Wolf and two of my favorite cats,
Popcorn and Shadow, are buried on acreage overlooking Lake Monroe in
Monroe County. I played basketball at Bloomington North. My father
graduated from Warren Central. My wife and I played in the pep band
at the NCAA championship game for the '81 Hoosiers. When I drive across the pool table flats of the northern Indiana farms I feel like I am approaching the navel of my universe. When I hit the hills of southern Indiana, I know I have arrived.
God
has blessed me greatly. I truly look forward with contentment to the
life I have yet to live here in northern Michigan. And yet, especially
this time of year, I thank God for whence I came. How lucky am I?
