bell buckle remembers ward

One thing that the loss of my little cousin Ward has reminded me of is how lucky I am to have a homebase of a large, very tight family and a real hometown: Bell Buckle, TN.

Here is a lovely story from the local newspaper today about how the town has responded to our Ward's death.

As for my family, I think we really are a bit like a clan in the classic sense of the word. When we need one another -- in any way -- we are always there for each other. And although we can probably bug one another more than anyone else ;-), we also always find ourselves gravitating to one another. We would rather be together than hanging out or living near just about anyone else.

This baffles a lot of people who can't imagine wanting to stay really close to their family members.

My little brother Robert, for example, went to U.Va., then Georgetown Law, then was an associate at a major northeast law firm (where he met my sister in law, also a lawyer), and then they moved to SF, but two years ago they decided to move to Bell Buckle to raise their children.

My grandparents, mother, cousins, uncle, and brother all live within one square mile in Bell Buckle. And none of us were originally "from" there. We have just all migrated there over the years to be close to one another (my parents moved us there in 1977, so I grew up there).

My second cousin, Betsy, lived in the Memphis area all her life. But now she has just retired and has built a house in Bell Buckle and is moving there to live near the rest of our family.

Even my children, who have never actually lived in Middle Tennessee (but spend a lot of time there), will tell you they have two hometowns: Knoxville and Bell Buckle.