"The Mississippi River could not hold all my friends. . . "

Many years ago, there was a politician in my hometown, who won by a landslide victory, and somewhere during his term, his popularity faded. He is attributed with a phrase that started with, "When I ran for office, the Mississippi River could not hold all my friends . . . . "

As I drove through the streets of my hometown this weekend, I couldn't help but think how much has changed in that town, a great place to be from, but not always a great place to be.

An example is the club where the dance was last Saturday night. Twenty years ago, filled with members on a weekend. This Saturday night, arriving at 7p.m, there was one table of members, and no others I saw all night.

Below is the McDonald's, the first place I had a job and earned a paycheck. The McDonald's has moved across town, and left this shell of a building boarded up on a main road. The next photo was a private club more in tune with the local middle class. It offered the summer-only members a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a small park area. Probably the last year we were members was around 1984 or 1985. The times, they do change.