On July 6 I was sweltering in the heat of Arizona and had just finished editing pages for the August magazine. I also had a story and photographs in the magazine and for all intents and purposes, I had hit the big time.

The first interview I did was with United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, I had also interviewed Harrah’s casino manager and the mayor of Maricopa. It was a town exploding with possibility and I was back to writing, editing and had the challenge of a new media in being part of publishing a magazine.

I had the big salary of my life, my fiancé and I were looking at homes to buy, I was the head of the editing department and it seemed as if the world was my oyster. I was hired because the group liked my writing and appreciated the fact that I had won awards for writing and photography in five different states. My quirky writing appealed to the vision they had for growing their business.

I loved the people, my staff, my new workout facility and yet I felt as if it were “almost perfect.” Have you been there? In business, relationships and other areas of life in general. I was not happy with the almost perfect.

The surface of the sun temperatures were like being in hell to a Midwestern boy – born and raised. And then when I would mention how hot it was, of course someone down there would tell me that I hadn’t seen anything yet. Well… that ray of sunshine was a little bit brutal to handle.

And then there was the cost of living, the scorpions, the giant rattle snakes and the heat. Have I mentioned the heat? I had to change clothes three times a day and the laundry bill alone was killing me. There were traffic jams, road construction and a pace of life that was going 95 miles per hour literally every minute. If that makes any sense.

But the thing I missed most was the people in my hometown. It seemed like you just couldn’t get close to anyone there. Platte County, I decided had ruined me for any other area I would consider living in. You all made me feel so much at home that I felt like a kid at summer camp missing my friends, my routine and my own bed.

I had mentioned in passing, perhaps in prayer, perhaps just throwing wishes at the stars, but on Sunday night, July 6 I was lying in bed with the window air conditioner on full blast because it was so hot. (I did mention the excessive heat, right? I did tell you I was living in a desert.)

It was 101 degrees in my room with the air conditioner on high for two hours. My fiancé had gone back to New Mexico after an incredible week together and I really started feeling alone. And miserable. And I hot.

I thought to myself, “if that editor who is coming from North Carolina to Wheatland falls through, then perhaps it is a sign that I can go home.

The very next morning I got a call saying that a loved one had a stroke. In an email from Bailey Ervin, she said, “That editor thing fell through, so you can come home now.” I almost fell off my chair. It was the sign that I was waiting for, and it didn’t take too long to pack up and head home.

Home. To where the temperature was under 100 degrees. Home to where my apartment was just as I left it. Home to people who were not mad because I left, but glad because I came back.

So I got home to Saturday night at the Platte County Fair, began snapping pictures, got carried away, took 15,000 pictures and once again I had lots of stories to tell. And the support from all of you stopping me on the journey and telling me “Welcome back,” was a blessing that felt better than I could ever describe.

I felt like Dororthy in the Wizard of Oz when she comes back home. I feel it apropos to quote it now, for it truly is my heart. The names are different, but those of you here know who you are who have so endeared yourself to me.

"Well... I think that it ... That it wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em.  And it's that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any farther than my own backyard because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with. "Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home - home! And this is my room - and you're all here - and I'm not going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all! And... oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home!”

My final word of advice. Don’t ever take this place for granted. I did, and almost made the biggest mistake of my life. The money may not be here, but my true friends who have become closer than family… are.

There really is no place like home.