We've finally moved. Four times in the past year. Six times in the past three years. But we are finally living in the place that we hope we will call home for years and years to come. It is a beautiful old New England home, with rumors of a basement used for the underground railroad and some rooms with six foot ceilings (which work just fine for this New Englander!) and drafty floorboards and quirky closets and a view of the town green and the steeple of a Congregational church.

Marilee is only two. She won't have any memories of Lawrenceville. I suspect Penny's and William's memories will be pretty vague if they exist at all. This place will be the one that they call home. It will be the one that shapes them, through the weather and customs and attitudes.

It's a little known fact (though I would think my name is a tipoff) that I too grew up in a small town of 5,000 people. But the town I grew up in was Edenton, North Carolina, and although it was a long time ago–we moved when I was ten–I know that place and its people shaped me as a person, as a Christian, and as a writer.

I was recently interviewed for a lovely blog (actually it is a tumblr but I am not tech-savy enough to really know the difference) about all things Southern. The blog is called Just a Pinch of South, and exists for anyone who lives elsewhere but has lived in or loved the South. So if you want to learn a little bit about how Edenton, NC shaped me (and see a pretty cute photo of me with my parents three decades ago...), head over to my interview with Just a Pinch of South.

Meanwhile, where did you grow up? How did it shape who you are?