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When my husband Randy and I decided to move to South Carolina in 1984, little did I know how much our lives would change. We traded in our snow tires and began our adventure south for sunshine and year round '' sweet tea''!I grew up only 37 miles south of Lake Erie. When my parents decided to retire here, Randy and I wanted to join them. The first day moving into our apartment my new neighbor shouted "hey" and I jumped in fright. I was soon to learn "hey" was another way of saying hello. This expression was one I quickly found myself using as well. I also found y'all very handy when I was teaching and I wanted to address all of the children y'all seemed such a handy term. ''You guys'' soon sounded foreign even to my northern ears.
One of my students missed the bus so I volunteered to take him home. I remember him telling me "to turn over yonder and turn back to the right",''what did he say?" I thought to myself.We eventually found it after some hand motioning on his part.
I admittedly had some preconceived notions about the south that have proven wrong over the years. The first wedding I attended here was what I thought all southern weddings would be like. The bridesmaids came down the aisle in hoop skirts and parasols just like Gone with the Wind. The gowns were even different colors! I was soon to learn this was not the typical southern wedding.
I love the way the children here are taught to say "yes or no ma'am and yes or no sir'' from the time they are in diapers. Have you ever heard Oprah interview a convict? You can always tell they are from the south when they say, "Yes, ma'am I sure did shoot his head clean off."
Randy and I thought we better teach our own children manners like these. We certainly did not want them to be considered ill-mannered children. It is funny that when we go north and my children say "yes ma'am'' the adult almost always tells them not to call them that as it makes them feel old. It should make you feel respected not old!
I do miss my Buckeye state at times. I miss being able to open my windows in summer to get some cool air, good Italian restaurants, family and friends, people that have known me since I was a child, being around others who are Ohio State and Indian fans and yes, even the snow is something I long for sometimes(just not the shoveling and driving in it).
In the south,I did not realize I would be viewed by some as a foreigner and intruder in their land. I thought the Civil War or the "War of Northern Aggression "was over more than 100 years ago.I did not know that when people are rude or bold others would say, "well, he or she is a Yankee". Even my son who works at a grocery store would tell me he could tell who was a Yankee not just by their speech, but by the way the person treated others.(ouch). I did not know I was the one with an accent! I did not know I would sweat from 90 plus temperatures from June-August.
Well, before you say get back on that northern bus, let me tell you what I love about living here. I love the innumerable days I wake up to sunshine, I love how friendly people are here, I love living in the Bible belt, I love living a short distance from the mountains and only 4 hours from the beach, I love the dear friends I have made that have become like family, I love little children calling me Miss Kim, I love having sweet tea year-round and getting as many refills as you want for free in restaurants, I love the magnolias trees and crape myrtle,I love the variation of southern accents and expressions, and I even love grits!!
In two more years, I will have lived here as long as I have lived in Ohio. When I cross over will I be more southern than northern?? I don't think so. I believe I will have my Buckeye roots forever. I will just have Palmetto tree branches. So there you have it,a Buckeye and a Palmetto and in the end they are both trees!
