Editor’s Notebook
There’s no place quite like home
I think Dorothy said it best in the ‘Wizard of Oz.’ ‘There’s no place like home.’
That’s how my husband, Jon, and I have always felt about South Dakota. We came to Kansas so Jon could attend the University of Kansas and earn his doctorate. During this time, we have made frequent trips home to visit our family and friends. Honestly, South Dakota always continued to be home to us.
After four years of graduate study, Jon graduated with his Ph.D. in entomology. After congratulating him on such a fantastic accomplishment, I said, ‘Now, go get a job.’ It was a task he completed with surprising speed and efficiency.
While cooking dinner one night this spring, Jon came home and asked if I’d like to go home. Thinking he meant for a weekend visit, I asked what dates he had in mind.
With a twinkle in his eye, he said that South Dakota State University was thinking sometime around the first of June. Huh? Come again? I dropped my spatula and simply stared at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
I had known that with his graduating, we’d most likely be moving, but I couldn’t believe that we’d actually be moving home.
It was the opportunity we’d hoped for, and one that we couldn’t pass up. And since June 1, Jon’s been happily chasing bugs in the fields of South Dakota, studying new crop pests and their migration patterns.
Unfortunately, that left us with a logistics problem. He’s in South Dakota, and I’m in Kansas, with a seven-hour commute separating us. So, I’m now homeward bound. And while I couldn’t be more thrilled to be returning home, it comes at a cost. It means I have to say goodbye to my friends, colleagues and the CAPPER’S family that I hold so dear. It is not something that’s easily done. While I haven’t been writing this column for very long, I have been working on the magazine for the past three years. And for several months, you’ve all taken me into your homes and hearts, and knowing that I won’t be corresponding with you on a regular basis is a little tough to swallow. I thank you all for your kind letters and phone calls over the past few months and for giving me such fond memories. CAPPER’S and its readers will always be close to my heart.
