Welcome Home Me

Book excerpt: In 1968, as Sue Skilton Orrell left her hometown, DeLand, Florida, she felt that the turmoil in her personal life was as chaotic as the widespread social and political unrest reported in the national news headlines. Despite the history that made her opt to stay away for over 54 years, she completed her formal education, built a successful career in Music Education, and dated every time she was single. Catastrophic weather events that impacted Houston and the onset of night driving limitation led Sue to consider returning to DeLand, the hometown she had never stopped missing. With resolute courage reinforced by numerous friends, family members, and strangers, she faced every decision and challenge to sell her house in Houston, buy another house in DeLand, and make the move within three months after first seriously considering the possibility of reclaiming the bucolic charm of DeLand, home of Stetson University, her undergraduate alma mater. This collection of short stories and journal entries covers the topics of Travel, Teaching, and Dating in Part One. Part Two addresses Weather, Real Estate, and Release. Sue links the topics by reflecting upon their effects on her personal growth, which enabled her ultimately to follow the path home and to be at peace not only within herself, but also in her hometown. For example, rather than writing a typical travelogue that stresses the geographical or cultural aspects of an area, she explored the dynamics of personal relationships and accidental adventures that occurred during some of her trips.