Small town USA - that is where I live - and so do some of you. I wouldn't have it any other way. It is a place where it is hard to keep a secret, where everyone knows your business and where people look out for one another and cheer you on at the Memorial Day parade. Yesterday I marched in our local parade with my Girl Scout and Brownie troops and I felt great. Every step people cheered for the Girl Scouts - some of them we knew, many we did not - but I still felt their joy at being part of this parade. It was a long parade route for many of my girls - close to two miles and the first mile, we marched through the town next door. There was not much cheering going on and my girls were getting discouraged. One even asked me "Where is everyone?" and my answer was simple. "We will be in our town in a few blocks and they will all be there." And sure enough they were. We crossed the divider into "our town" and there they were - parents, grandparents, kids, my best girlfriends and their husbands and kids - all dressed in red, white & blue and waving their flags. My girls step picked up a bit and they began to wave and cheer and I truly felt tears in my eyes - and I was grateful. Grateful that my own children get to grow up in a town where we come out and honor our fallen soldiers, grateful I live in a town where the people come out and cheer for Girls Scouts, grateful for a beautiful sunny day. Grateful for all who have sacrificed their lives to let us live ours in a town where the Memorial Day Parade is a big deal. So thank you to small town America for letting us live our lives - somedays in peace, others in discord, but always as a community banded together by good and bad. I love this town. I feel at home here. I am glad my children can grow up in a seaside town with friends and family and I hope that one day they too will be grateful for this small town America. I grew up in the big city and although I used to feel at home there, I would not go back for anything. I like to visit, but I always can't wait to get home. I met my small town boy in the big city and followed him around the world and back to this small town. I am glad I did.

Cara's two cents: Welcome home....