Sharon’s father died this past spring and we have spent a lot of time in the Kansas Flint Hills this year; cleaning up the house, getting ready for and having an auction, going thru three generations of stuff in the attic (plus some bachelor neighbors stuff; when her dad bought their farm he got most of their personal property with it).
We have always “cruised main” and driven by both grandparents old houses before going on to the farm when we would go out to see her dad.
This fall while driving around and looking at different landmarks from her childhood, it really hit me - there was nothing for her there. The little town has dried up; the cafe has been closed for years, no grocery store, not even a gas station. It is 20 miles to the nearest town with a grocery store or 30 miles the other direction if you want a town big enough to support more than one grocery store and have some competition.
I think her family resented her moving away to the city, but the ones who stayed have witnessed a relentless decline.
