We bought a house in North Carolina a few years ago after moving from Italy where we had lived for some years. Being new to the area, we timidly explored our new surroundings in our first few months in an attempt to learn about our new community. We visited our new local supermarket, Ingles, and talked with some of the locals. One young girl stood out as our newest of contacts. We explained that we had just moved to North Carolina from Italy. With a totally amazed look on her face, she exclaimed, “You moved to North Carolina from Italy? What’s the matter? People only move to this town to die!” Ouch! Had we made a wrong decision? The mortician probably thought not.

Some months later, we were busy buying furniture for our new home, We ventured down to South Carolina in an attempt to find a few new items…