Small Town Life

I live in a very small town. I love my small town. I've lived here all my life and I come from a large old family. I get asked all the time, "now who do you belong to?". Years ago the answer to that question was easy because everyone knew my grandparents. Now, a lot of the older generation have passed and my parents generation asks the question, "who did you belong to?". I hesitate to answer, the most people remember about my dad is that he's a good ol' boy and moved to the hills a long time ago.

Then comes the mother question. I usually tell them she was not from Wynne and we move onto a different subject. Occasionally I get that one someone who remembers. Don't you just love the look on peoples faces when they remember someone and then they remember that someone is attached to juicy gossip, even if it is gossip that is at least 20 years old? That look is priceless and it gives me the advantage of knowing what's coming next. Just makes me want to say "Nanner Nanner Boo Boo, I already know what you are going to say!!!" The response I get when I say her name is "oh, your mom was the one! The one who dated the preacher and..." And I usually respond, yes that's my mother. Some say it before they realize what's come out of their mouth and some say it to see the shock value and then there are the busy bodies.

I'm the only one of my Dads family left in this town, his brothers and sisters have long since moved off and so have their children,there are cousins here and great aunts and great uncles. So why haven't I? I'm at home here. Comfortable.

I know every street, I know its history, I can remember riding down those streets with my brothers on bikes, walking with my friends and dreaming, learning to drive on these streets, walking with my mother for exercise, remember watching return from her walk with (shush) the preacher, I learned to drive on these streets, first kiss, and of course I fell in love with Bon Jovi and a few others, I remember my brothers riding off with dad and I was to stubborn to tell them bye and how much I loved them.

I met (ok stalked) Tim and wore him down until he was SCARED and married me!

How about the new memories? I watched my girls learn to walk, ride bikes, and now teaching them to drive on the same streets, listening to their dreams and loving them in this very small town I live in.

The friends have changed since way back when, the memories have stayed the same, life in a small town!
So what if I get the occasional "oh your..." That just means that the person they were talking about before is getting a break!
Its how I roll in this small town.