Mayberry...at last!

Ever since I learned our daughter and her family lived near Andy Griffith's hometown, I knew we would have to include Mt. Airy in our itinerary when we visited them. What a delightful day we had in that place! Yes, Floyd's shop wasn't really Floyd's shop. The name was on the window, but it wasn't the real shop, and the real Floyd was nowhere to be seen. And so it went with the Blue Bird Diner, and the squad car, and the jail. They weren't the real thing. They never could be. Because there was no real Floyd, nor was there ever a diner where the real Taylor-Fife gang ate the specials. Oops, there wasn't even a real Andy Taylor or Barney Fife! I know, I know; I'm sounding heretical. Please forgive me. I'm as true a fan of Andy, Opie, Barney, Aunt Bee, Floyd, Howard, Emmett, Thelma Lou, Helen, and Goober as ever there was. It's just that I have to admit that these dear folks and their dear town are really all fiction--wonderful, lovable, but fiction nonetheless.

     But that's okay. For one day, we pretended we were in Mayberry. And, since Mt. Airy is the real hometown of the real Andy Griffith, we sensed we were very close. We strolled in and out of charming shops, we ate at a picturesque diner, the kids bought Opie's candy and got "locked" in the jail. We wandered amongst others who love the show, who probably have cherished it for decades. We knew they were kindred spirits. As Dad and Mom, we loved being with Erin and her Ralph. As Grandpa and Grandma, we loved walking alongside the grandsons and feeling the granddaughter's hand slipping into ours now and then. We loved every moment with some of our most favorite people in the world.
     And, once again, we knew how real our blessings were. And how real the Heavenly Father who gave them to us.