My Open Letter to Iowa: It’s Great to Finally Come Home

There's a famous saying that you can never truly go home. Whoever said that is wrong and I'm living proof. This wayward son is back and I gotta tell ya it's great to finally come home to Iowa.

Full disclosure: I was born in northeast Missouri, but Iowa is where most of my family resides and has been my adopted home for the past nearly 20 years. To quote a famous Johnny Cash song, "I've been everywhere, man...I've been everywhere".

Get our free mobile app

For what it's worth, "Doc" Holliday is my real name sort of. The "Doc" nickname got slapped on my back in the 1980's and the Holliday last name is real. My wife really did trace us back to the famous gunfighter John Henry "Doc" Holliday last year through Ancestry, but I'm not really cool enough to claim that heritage so let's not pretend I'm some neato outlaw. That being said, Doc's common law wife Big Nose Kate lived in Davenport when she was 12 and Wyatt Earp lived in Pella, Iowa. The Holliday family connections run deep here.

My wife was born and raised in Keokuk, Iowa and we made our home there back in the early 2000's. My wife's sisters and brothers all live in the Des Moines area while her mom still resides in Keokuk. Her dad's side of the family lives in Cantril and Pulaski, Iowa. My wife went to the University of Iowa for 3 years which means you don't mention Iowa State Cyclones in our home.

My career took me west for the past nearly 10 years, but I'm back and never plan to venture away again. Being able to cruise the country backroads with the remains of old barns coming into sight every now and then is something I never want lose again. So, to the genius that claimed you can never truly come home I can only say one thing. WATCH ME.