NOWHERESVILLE―BUT I LOVED IT JUST THE SAME

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Stockton, California!

Yeah that Stockton. The one that went bankrupt. The largest city in the nation to do so.

I lived there just shy of twenty years. I loved every year I lived there accept the year I was being "run out of town."

Some―many in fact, would say it was an honor to be run out of Stockton. To them Stockton is Nowheresville.

One lady visiting from L.A. said she viewed Stockton as the armpit of the nation.

I'm the kind of guy that if I had the money I would love to live in a different city every year or two. And yet I'm a stayer. I'm loyal. Although the average stay for a minister is two years or less, I stayed at my first church for eight years, my second one six years, the third one a few months short of twenty years and my last one fifteen years.

Central in Stockton was my third church and my did I love it. I loved that Christian family with every fiber of my being. And I loved the city of Stockton. I could write a dozen blog posts on the good things about that city.

But there's a lot of bad there too. I could also write a book about that but wouldn't want to. Why would I?

So much of what I loved happened right there in that city. I'm a sentimental sap and my head and heart are filled with memories.When I drive through the city a memory pops up at every corner.

I have that sentimental feeling about almost every place, even when I'm just visiting. Whether it's leaving a little village in Ethiopia, a fish and chips restaurant in Boston, the Taj Mahal in India, the theater in London or the cable cars in San Francisco, I always think, "This is my last time for this moment. I won't ever do it again."

Yeah old bankrupt Stockton. Poor leadership. That's what caused it. Isn't that always the case?

Nowheresville. But I loved it just the same.

Thanks for the memories Stockton.