My mother lives near Gainesville, Florida. She used to live in Gainesville before she and my step dad bought a home in a nearby town. My mother was brought up in Massachusetts and until I was fully grown and out of the house she espoused liberal views and instilled in me a feeling of respect toward all people. This all changed when she moved to Florida in the 80's. Now she comes out east only in summer and we argue about things like how a large latino population has redefined language in the US. She seems to believe that our language is dying because of all the non-english speaking immigrants. I believe it has been transformed by texting and emailing and all things conversation atrophying. "What about Europe?" I said to her one morning in my brother's back yard, "They speak several languages and no one language has suffered from it."

Gainesville, Florida has come under fire lately because of the planned Quran burning.

The Christian minister organizing the Quran burning, Pastor Terry Jones, has said he plans to go ahead in spite of concerns. He is part of the Dove World Outreach Center, a tiny, evangelical Christian church in Gainesville, Florida, with an anti-Islam philosophy.

I want to know what is happening in these retirement states (like Arizona and Florida)? Why are these elderly people so intolerant of other folks? Will the next generation of Arizonians and Floridians be more accepting?

I want to tell them all, in the words of my wise sister Rebecca, "different is not bad mom. It is just different."