Life Moves On

I’m an adult. I know things never stay the same. I know that things change as progression takes hold and time moves forward.  As newer land is developed, and new neighborhoods and homes are erected, and businesses flourish in other places; sometimes it seems that parts of a town will die.  

I went home a few days ago to visit my folks. We had a really nice day and I felt much better as I was leaving out to come back to Quincy, my other home.

I knew I needed to fill-up my vehicle with gas and I had decided to do that in Georgia because the price per gallon is quite a bit cheaper than Florida. Normally I would’ve taken care of all that before I ever left out on a trip, but this visit was a little impromptu so I wasn’t quite as prepared.

My parents live in the middle of town in a neighborhood off of Slappey Drive. When I left their house that day, I took a turn to the left which heads towards home for me and decided I would just get gas on my way out.

I’m not sure what has happened to all those gas stations at the south end of Slappey Drive, but none of them had a “pay at the pump” availability. None – where all the places for inserting your credit/debit card were originally – were now covered-up. Your only option was paying with cash inside and then pumping.

I stopped at three different ones, trying to get gas and it was the same at all three. I have never seen anything like it. And if you’re wondering why I didn’t just go inside to pay, well, that side of town has also turned into a lot of places that don’t seem the safest place for an old lady to be by herself.

It makes me sad to say that, because when I was a teenager I worked on that end of town, and never thought a thing about stopping at any place over there. But the other day, even as I was doing it, continuing to stop at first one place and then another, I knew it wasn’t the safest thing for me to be doing; but it was like I refused to let the present intimidate me from what I remembered the past to be.

And honestly, it’s horrible that the people that run that city have let that area become that way. It’s like someone decided to just cut that part off from the rest and let it die a slow death. It’s still living, but there isn’t any quality of life.

I drove in the dark for most of the way home, which is quite stressful for me, especially during deer season. But once I saw the railroad tracks, right next to the old water plant as you’re coming into Quincy, I was relieved to see in the distance, the little town that is the same as it was 20 years ago when I moved here.

I for one, kind of like that time stands still here, if it means we all stay safe.