I was channel surfing the other day and I stopped on the movie “Steel Magnolias”.

There’s the river!

“Steel Magnolias” is the story of a close-knit circle of friends who lives come together at Truvy’s Beauty Parlor in a small town in Louisiana.

I used to ride my bicycle down that street!

The movie stars Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis.

That’s the old McLung’s Drugstore!

It’s a clever movie and won some awards, but that’s not why it caught my eye.

You see, Steel Magnolias was actually filmed in the town where I lived during six of my Wonder Years. The man who wrote the original play went to high school with my brothers and lived one street over.

Advertising guru Roy Williams says, “People will be more interested in your home movies if they are in them.”

You watch a movie differently when it is based in a place you’ve lived a part of your life.

You listen to a radio station differently when its based on the things your life is about.