liberty.

I spent a few days in liberty indiana (where my dad lived from age one to eight) last week for my grandfather's funeral. He'd had heart problems for a while, so his death wasn't a surprise, but was still sad. It was nice- everyone participated in the funeral (I was recruited to play the piano and do a reading), and while our reason for being there was sad, it was nice to catch up with not only my immediate family (which is spread from austin to villanova to boson) but also with many extended relatives I'd either never met, or had last seen when I was five or so. I'll admit that I was a bit nervous to be in liberty. I'd gone to dodgeville, wisconsin (home to land's end) a few years ago, and as we returned to milwaukee, I realized how anxious I'd been being so removed from a city. I anticipated a similar anxiety for liberty- a 2,100 people, one square mile town surrounded by farms. This wasn't the case though, and I found something oddly comforting in the easily walkable town and it's friendly, content people. I was able to put pictures to the stories my dad told us of his earlier mischievousness- we were even invited in to tour the house he lived in as a child. The current owners offered the eight of us rides on their segways as well. (That's my youngest brother riding one over there.) If this was to occur in boston, the poor people would probably end up being robbed!