A Letter From Miss Sas: Does Your Hometown Still Wave?

Dear Friend,

Ever notice how you can tell you’ve left town without even seeing the city limits sign?

That’s when the waving starts.

Now, I didn’t grow up in Dothan. I grew up in Webb, and Dothan was just...town.

Need groceries? We were going to town.

Doctor’s appointment? Going to town.

Back-to-school shopping? Going to town.

It didn’t matter what you were doing. If you were headed to Dothan, you were just... going to town.

But somewhere between town and home, something changes.

You get back out in Webb... Cottonwood... Rehobeth... Slocomb... Headland... all those little roads that connect all our little communities...

...and folks start waving.

Not some big excited wave; just a couple fingers off the steering wheel.

Sometimes it’s the whole hand.

Sometimes you’re driving by somebody out in their yard, and they’ll just throw up a hand while they’re still mowing grass or pulling weeds. They may not even look up. It’s almost like they’ve done it so many times they don’t even think about it anymore.

Truth be told, I don’t either.

I wave before my brain even has time to ask if I know who it is.

Sometimes I do.

Sometimes I recognize the truck before I recognize the person.

Sometimes I probably don’t know them at all.

Or maybe I know their mama.

Or their daddy.

Or their granny.

Lord knows around here that’s entirely possible.

The other day I caught myself waving at somebody, and after we passed each other I thought, “Now who in the world was that?”

I still don’t know.

😂

Didn’t matter.

They waved... I waved... we both went on with our day.

I got to wondering if folks realize how special that really is.

It’s such a little thing.

Nobody’s expecting a conversation.

Nobody’s asking for anything.

It’s just a quiet little way of saying...

“I see you.”

I reckon that’s one of the things I love most about living out here.

The world can feel awfully big sometimes. But out here in the Wiregrass... it still feels like neighbors.

Now tell me...

Does your hometown still wave?

Or is it one of those small things you don’t notice until you suddenly miss it?