having spent most of my growing up years in a very small town, i do consider myself a small town girl....but being isolated from others due to abuse that was rampant in our home, i didn't really get the benefits of the relationships and connections that a small town brings. i tend to be a loner...an isolator--learned behavior that i am in the process of changing daily, it seems. from a distance i saw the connections....the families that spent time together. even now, through Facebook, i see how my classmates were connected when they were younger, in ways i had no clue of. i was a small fish in a small pond...or it seemed to me.
once out of high school, i moved to the big city.....and became a very small fish in an ocean.....lost, alone and floundering to find myself and my community.......i lived there for many years and, yes through church and homeschooling, we made communities--but we kept everyone at a distance, still.....
we bought our first home in a small town, but it was pretty much an outlying area of the metroplex....lots of commuters...heck. we commuted to church 4 or 5 times a week...an hours drive.....each way.
then.
we came to our current small town.....which is really small. it is still close to the big city, but it is nestled in the middle of other small towns...they are all growing, but still on the small side....it has been a double edged sword for me.....
it took some getting used to, going to the grocery store and running into people you knew....creating a relationship with the checkers (remember the amount of people in our home)--since the neighborhood walmart has become more like an extended pantry for me....
the nice side, is that my kids have made relationships that i know will last a lifetime. we joined a neighborhood church...which was very fun and somewhat settling to this rambling heart...that sometimes feels like there is no 'home'.....
the day we moved in....i was in the process of miscarrying a baby.....news got out in that {not so} little church and i had about 7 ladies show up on my door step with food and able bodies to help unpack boxes and get my home in order....what a huge blessing that was and still is when i think of it.....
we have neighbors that i know we can call on and count on in a pinch...i love that.
it also has had its drawbacks.....while going through a horrific time with my divorce, i lost {what i thought were} friends....lost my reputation....lost my job, lost the eye contact of neighbors who didn't know what to say or how to address the situation...or me....or my kids......knew of the gossip....all the while trying to survive.....it was (and has been) horrible....
i have been blessed beyond measure this week in watching this small town....
you see....there was last weekend a horrible accident that took 2 young lives and altered 2 more. 2 kids that *i* don't know personally, but my kids do....one of the boys that passed went to 'our' high school....college with one of my children....he was the son of one of my little girl's teachers. so incredibly sad.....and yet.
yesterday.
we got a recorded call from the elementary principal to all parents.....of course the staff wants to be at the funeral to support this family and grieve with them....but how do you do that???? I hadn't thought of it until this call.....
this one call blessed my socks off......
seems the neighboring elementary school teachers are banding together to cover their school AND our school to allow these teachers to go to the funeral....volunteers have stepped in to fill the gaps....food is there...prayer is there....i talked to another friend that said this family had not been left on their own at any one point of this tragedy.....
there are so many life lessons that have come through this situation.....i could write a book....from my children (ALL of them and their different ages) to how i as a parent handle my children.....and on and on......
and....
back to my point :)
this brings a whole new meaning to small town to me...this is how we are to live....taking care of one another....standing with one another, supporting one another....loving one another....in the midst of pain...no matter the cause....
image credit: google images