Mount Washington,

Thank you.

I take pride in where I come from. Small town, Mount Washington, Kentucky has treated me well. I remember hearing in high school how tired people were of being "stuck." in Mount Washington, but to me, I wouldn't mind to be there the rest of my life.

Mount Washington has always done an amazing job at making people feel at home. Driving down Old Bardstown road, through Main street full of small shops, my mom would always say "I just love our little town" while looking at the American flags hanging up around the fourth of July, or the Christmas lights in December. There was always a sense of "home" when you reach the cozy Mount Washington city limits, even though you hadn't reached the steps of your own home, you were still home.

In my family, Sundays were for church. First Baptist Mount Washington is where I belong and feel a sense of family every time I walk in. I remember as a child I would participate in VBS, GA's and church choir, striving to fill the main roles in all of the church plays. I remember singing in the "Big Choir." (adult choir as we called it.) looking out at all the familiar faces in the audience. Singing on Sundays during service was my favorite, giving glory to Jesus Christ through the voice he gave me. We were a family, and even the people you really didn't know, you still knew. For years, my mom volunteered at the "Community Ministries." food bank to give service to the less fortunate, were my brother and I helped load boxes and were taught to be selfless. I was baptized by Paul Chitwood, now Executive Director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and was best friends with his daughter. My best friends came from church, with most of those I am still close to. I looked forward to church camp at Cedarmore with Jason Johnson from the second I left camp that previous summer, to the time I arrived the next summer. We would work upwards basketball games, serve food to missions banquets and anything we could to raise money to save up to have enough to go to church camp. I even went out of country with the church to Vietnam on a mission. Church has always been home. Mount Washington will always be home.

As I got older, circle K was the place to get sodas, and the gazebo by church was the place to hang out. Friday Nights were best spent at the Bullitt East football field and the river bottoms were best visited at night when you want to be scared and to add your own name to the collection filling the colorful bridge. We were raised on school spirit and Charger Pride. North Bullitt and Bullitt Central were the rivals that we loved to hate, but were actually friends with the students anytime a rivalry game wasn't going on. You knew the names of most of the police officers, not because you got in trouble, but because you saw them visiting the high school, or they helped you out with car troubles. One of them even pulled you over for an expired tag and when you said you had it and forgot to put it on, they put it on for you. Before you could drive, walking to McDonalds after school was the "cool thing." to do and when you could drive, taking people home despite how much gas you had was a fun after school activity. We made our best friends in Mount Washington. We fell in love in Mount Washington. We had our first kisses in Mount Washington. We got our hearts broken in Mount Washington. We lived in Mount Washington.

Some people can't wait to get out of Mount Washington. Some people will come back to reside and grow their own family in "The Mount." Mount Washington is my home, and I am passionate and proud to be a part of a town so concerned with the helping of other people, a town so dedicated to keeping our community safe and well taken care of. I am proud to be from a town that decorates for the holidays, and involves everyone from every kind of background. We found ourselves here. We discovered who we are. We lived a lot, loved a lot, and left our mark on this town. I am proud to be a Mount Washington Native, and Mount Washington will always have my heart.