the more you do, the more you learn…..

Those of you who know me, will know why this photo is relevant to this post.

And, sometimes the more you learn about the town and some of the people in it….the less you want to do.

Living in a small town has its advantages.  I will be the first to admit that I love the fact that when I walk downtown I see a familiar face around every turn.  I know almost every business owner downtown, and they in turn, know me and my family.  I like to order “the usual” at the coffee shop, and LOVE it when they start making it the minute I walk in the door.  Everyone is greeted with a smile and a “nice day out today, isn’t it?”.  I giggle at the fact that our former mayor is the town barber.  One of our firefighters is also an ambulance driver and works at the funeral home.  Everyone is related to everyone else “somewhere down the line”.  Your house is not in fact “yours” until you have lived in it 30 years, and until that day comes, is lovingly referred to as “insert former owner’s name here”‘s house.

We look out for our own, most of the time.  We are almost like family (well, most that live here are family).

There within that last sentence is the flaw to this Norman Rockwell existence.  We are almost like family.

Family in the way that we can band together to get something done.  Spend months and months together to accomplish a goal.  Do something that no one else thought possible.  Other family members may have doubted us in the beginning, but were there patting us on the back when it was done, and never admitting their doubt, saying “we knew you could do it all along”.

Family in the way of forgiveness.  We forgive those who have wronged us in the past and are willing to pull up our boot straps and go to battle for them once again, for the betterment of many.  Family, in the way of forgetting how they have wronged us in the past, and pushing ahead, thinking in the back of our minds, “they can’t possibly do that to me again”.

As I write this, I know you are thinking that calling this small town a “family” is a stretch.  It is.  That is why I said “almost like a family”.

My definition of family is this (and I have to say that some of my closest friends are more like family to me than just friends):

• They will ALWAYS be there to support you.
• They will ALWAYS love you no matter what battle you are fighting (even if they disagree with your position).
• They will ALWAYS be there to help you when you need them, and you, in turn, would drop everything for them.
• They would NEVER take credit for something you have done to better themselves.  Instead they would be your biggest cheering section.
• Your family walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

So, if I may take a liberty here and change my opinion.  The flaw in living in a small town is this:   it is not like a family at all, because if it were, people wouldn’t give up on it so quickly, and those of us who are not giving up on it wouldn’t be so bruised and battered after hanging on for so long.

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