Economic Disasters, Emotional Quandaries

When the disaster struck us in the form of a job lay-off, we abandoned our little homestead--not forever, I hope, but for now. Our rural situation in the wonderful hills of Appalachia sadly mirrored our lack of contacts in the area. The result: we sit in an urban place feeling lonely for the community we left behind. The pull to return is great, but how would we do it? And, anyway, now I feel a pull in another direction, this time to my aging father in southern Alabama. Curse this post-industrial lala land for putting me into this melancholy quandary. The economic reality of late capitalism poses a double-edged dilemma for its subjects: we are separated from both food sources and family and, thus, live sadly shut-off lives. Because of this I am faced with a personal dilemma. Should I consider my own, young family's desires of a fulfilling, somewhat self-sufficient life in beloved Appalachia or give my lonely father a chance to hear little ones around him and fulfill my responsibilities to my aging parents as the adult daughter who was nurtured so well as a child?