Why i am here

What was the primary reason you came to A.C.?
If you made a list of the top ten things that help you make your decision what were they in the order of priority.
What were the top 3?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Alright
My wife was in Winfield taking care of her mother. I was back in South Carolina. We lived apart for about a year, and i decided to try to find a job here. Her mother had cancer for a few years and was to the point she could not care for herself. We made the decision for joyce to come back and take care of her. I stayed back in S.C. That was interesting, living apart essentially.

I had a really nice job there, but ... thought it would be an adventure. I was working for a newspaper, was not editor, and pretty much did what i wanted, even set my own hours and did a lot of freelance work .. the paper i had worked for shut down, and i was hired by the competition, i had worked for them less than a year when joyce came here to take care of her mother.

I interviewed a few places here and kept my eyes open for anything within 150 miles of winfield.
Lord have mercy Blackwell .. sheesh anyone who doesn't like ark city needs to go over there and take a good look around. Also interviewed in Shawnee, and was real impressed.. also Newton, and some other places.

Anyways, the job opened up here. Actually i almost got hired 6 months earlier by Kim Benedict.
We were in negotiations and i called back to tell her i would come for the interview and the seatons had bought the paper, and there was no opening.
but it opened up again six months later. The editor then put off his quitting for a while .. i guess ?
Truthfully I liked winfield better at the time. I lived in winfield the first few months we were here.

So her mother died a few months later. There was no longer a reason to stay here.
About six months later - we had been here a year, the folks in south carolina wanted me to come back and even offered me the job of editor there.
So we had to decide.
An aside, my wife 's family is from here. she still has lots of cousins etc in the area, but most are around winfield.
She did talk me into staying here for another six months. That deadline came and went.

So the question then becomes, why did i stay? I can still go back to s.c. at anytime to my old paper, they are an old family and take care of people they like . they dont need an editor, but they would make room for me. They are crazy, but still a fun group.
also ive had some other chances to leave .. other opportunities, but ive stayed here.

Reasons in order.
I like the people here. I have made some really good friends. Thats No. 1 ... Do i like the people? I have lived places where i didnt like the people or the aura of the community ... arkansas for one..

I love my church. that is huge to me. If i didnt like my church - or didnt have one - id be miserable. and wouldnt like it here. There is opportunity there for me to be involved too, so that is big.
I like the history and character of the city.
I see potential here to do other things ... like run a music festival, ... and im thinking about figuring out a way to open a place to have music regularly. maybe food even, but i dont want to get into the restuarant business. Maybe someone else could do htat part.
Also, ive been surprised, to find that i like the rivers and the geography around here. I have a campsite year round on the walnut river, and love it out there. Its not the beach, but it will do.,
I love the quiet, the nature,
Also I do feel like I am making a difference in the community, through work and through church.
In S,C. I lived in a county that had 300,00 people, and another county just across the river, had 500,000 people. There were advantages - any food you could dream of available at anytime ...
but ... i was just a number.

I also like working at the paper. I like putting out a paper every day. Of course there are always issues with work, and things you might not like, but ... its still a fun gig.
Wish i could do more sports. :)

Housing is cheap. We have a nicer house here than what we could afford in S.C>, even though I made more money there. It is interesting to compare prices. Housing and food are much cheaper here, utilities, taxes and hte like are much higher here...

So thats why im staying here. 8 reasons.
I do miss S.C. at times. Do you know what collared greens are ? oh my, i could sure use a plate of collared greens over rice, some barbeque pork or fried chicken, with some sweet tea, rolls and maybe some apple pie ... oh my goodness :)
The food is the thing i miss most about south carolina, that and the mild winters..

There ya have it.