Dear Reader:

Yesterday evening I started reflecting back on all the activities of the first two days of this week and I felt this nostalgic love for my “little” town sweep over me unexpectedly.

I love showing it off and having Mollie come accompany me around town Monday just brought back renewed feelings of love and appreciation for the ‘ville’ I proudly call home.

There’s no denying that Summerville has changed pretty drastically since I moved here in the early seventies…getting my first teaching job at Alston Junior High. It was still a “sleepy little town” at the time with lots of young teachers arriving in droves since we were the “baby boomers.”

Alston Junior High was the only “Junior High” in the district. Before I left the school district in 2003…there were no junior high’s…just middle schools and they numbered (at that time) five.

My own children, who grew up in Summerville and attended its outstanding schools, now all live in and around Mt. Pleasant. It is funny to me to hear them complain about the congestive traffic and crowded conditions in Summerville…not the same town they grew up in. Even they, now, get a little nostalgic about the “way it was.”

(I will have to admit that having family dinners at my place in Summerville really is almost an impossibility on a week night…it takes forever to get here (from Mt. P to Summerville) after work…so my family entertaining has been reduced to a weekend here or there and some holidays.

I think I have adapted to the changes by staying pretty loyal to the “old” Summerville. I find myself still patronizing the restaurants I have since I arrived…places like Continental Corner, Oscars, Eva’s…etc. I usually find out about a new restaurant from my “Mt. Pleasant” family before discovering it myself. We are creatures of habit! My car seems reluctant to travel much farther than the Highway 78 intersection.

It is not that I am opposed to all the new shopping areas closer to the interstate…I enjoy stopping in once in awhile over there to eat, run in a shop, or go to the movies but I always feel like that part of Summerville is an addendum or “add-on” addition…not part of the original design.

After the lovely encounter at FLY boutique (that I wrote about in yesterday’s post) Mollie and I went to Affordables and heard the story behind the change (coming soon) in this store chain’s name to Aiden. Who is this little girl that is behind the name change to Aiden? What is the story? Every store has a story…will wait to tell this one when the name officially changes.

After Mollie and I left Affordables we started strolling down Short Central…my favorite little street in town. I stopped and poked my head in Josephine’s Alterations to say “Hi” to Josephine and thank her for hemming a pair of pants for me for the wedding. Summerville really is the town where you can stop, shop and “everybody knows your name.”

It was, however, an unexpected incident that happened yesterday that reassured me the “little” in the town of Summerville is still alive and well!

I stopped at Coastal Produce for some tomatoes, veggies and fruits ..ending up getting another plant (their plants are so beautiful) and my will-power is weak when it comes to adding to my garden.

It wasn’t until I went to pay that a problem arose. I had changed pocketbooks and left a coin purse with my bank check card in it in the other pocketbook. I still had my American Express however, which normally I only use for larger purchases or trips, but I knew they took American Express so no problem.

Except this time. Jessica tried running it through the machine and told me that she had had problems lately with American Express…she wasn’t sure what was going on…something about a pin number it kept asking for and none of her customers, like me, had a clue either. I apologized for the inconvenience and left the plant and bagged food products on the desk.

Jessica told me not to give it a second thought…I could just pay for them the next time I came in. “We see you in here buying tomatoes and vegetables a lot…we know you will pay us back then.”

Without even asking my name or getting any information…she took a business card…wrote her name…drew a happy face,the amount owed on the back and told me to have a wonderful day!

So until tomorrow…that is exactly what I did. After all, how could I not have a good day…I live in Summerville…where the living is still “little.”

Coastal Produce’s card reads “How Sweet It Is”...and that pretty much sums up my feelings for my hometown.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh