Living in a small town! Living in a small town like Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. Knowing you’re living in the best part of Monmouth County and New Jersey. I lived in Highlands all my adult life until my husband and I took off for ten years in an RV we gave ourselves on our 40th wedding anniversary. I lived in Atlantic Highlands not quite two years, but knew is well and knew its people well from shopping, socializing, and covering meetings and meeting the people who made this town great. So while I saw on Facebook today there are different opinions on what’s great about Highlands, I’ll put that aside for a minute to concentrate on what really made me happy today and made me realize, once again, how terrific small towns in general are. Taking a friend who doesn’t drive to her doctor’s appointment just outside of Atlantic Highlands, it was wonderful to hear how compassionate the doctor was, how he listened so attentively to her problems, how he sympathized with her aches and pains and reassured her that no, she isn’t the only one suffering some depression from the Covid situation and cancellation of social activities. He told her he was going to call in a prescription for one of her problems, answered all her questions, said a cheery goodbye and sent us on our way. We made that second appointment, again praising the doctor for his knowledge, expertise, but genuine concern for his patient. There was no rush, no in-and-out, here’s your bill here. This is a doctor who loves his patients. Granted it was only minutes, but knowing how good this doctor is, and how great Bayshore Pharmacy is, we changed stopping in the drug store just to see how long it would be before she could pick up her prescription. About three minutes if you want to wait, pharmacist Scott Eagleton said. Three minutes! That meant, not only had the doctor immediately called in the prescription, but the pharmacist received it and was working on it. And if I couldn’t wait, he would also deliver it. Where does that happen anyplace else but in a small town like Atlantic Highlands, in a pharmacy where they have been prepared for months to accept the vaccine and really help out all their neighbors, only to be put on a waiting list while the big dogs got their supplies. Seeing all the good that came first from the doctor, next from the pharmacist, it was easy to be happy, and easier yet to wipe out the memories of the criticism by some of Highlands, and what people who just moved in think of people who have lived there a lifetime. And convinced me once again that the place my husband and I chose to bring up our family, the friends I’ve made, the opportunities I’ve had, the way my life has grown simply because I live in this wonderful Bayshore is enough to make me happy every day!