I grew up, like many of you, in a small town. My little town was my whole world, and anything outside of it barely existed in my eyes. I grew up knowing my neighbors, and playing at their house (outside of course). We snuck down to the creek, when I promised my mama I wouldn't go...always coming home soaking wet from falling in. We pretended to be on Kids Incorporated and rode our bikes around the block over and over again, until the bug man came and sprayed the neighborhood for mosquitos and you either rode behind him taking it in, or if you were like me, ran inside because your mama told you it was poison. We listened for the ice cream man, and swung on the swing set in my back yard, jumping off when we got so high in the air that we could almost touch the clouds!
My mama let me stay home alone after school (in the 4th grade!) and in the summers because my friend's mom was always at home if I needed anything. We swam in her above ground pool and jumped on the trampoline, and ran through the sprinkler. When we got thirsty, we drank out of the hose pipe. If it rained, we stayed inside listening to old records, or watched VHS tapes of "Creep Show" or Alice In Wonderland.
When my mama would come home, I would be ready to go to ball or cheerleading practice or the Athletic Complex to play softball, cheer, or watch my brother's play baseball, football, soccer, or basketball. We practically lived there. For dinner, we would eat whatever my mom cooked, or we ate at the ball park. Eating out was for the weekends, and when we did, my PawPaw always went with us, letting me count the money in his billfold on the way.
One summer, I went to my friend Michelle's house every single day at 10am and watched The Price Is Right, followed by Dirty Dancing. We'd play Barbie's or ride bikes after that, but always, without fail, had to watch The Price Is Right & Dirty Dancing.
Opening Day of little league was always a big day! All of the teams would get together at someone's house the night before for a team party while our parents decorated the trucks for the parade the next morning. The parade was followed by a huge carnival at the park where we would play needle in a haystack and go "fishing" for goldfish that would die by the time we got home with them in that plastic bag. We sold raffle tickets and ate barbeque at the ballpark. We played our games and got free cokes afterwards. While the other teams got ready to play, Mr. McDonald, better known as "Goat" would line the fields while we played cup-ball near the batting cages.
We rode a school bus to Woodward Elementary, passing the house with the chickens in front on the way, and had sock hops and 4-H talent shows. We took field trips to the zoo and the Children's Theater, but nothing was better than going to the Space & Rocket Center with Mr. McCrory in the 6th Grade. As 6th graders we took a tour of the high school and had our class picnic at the park.
We travelled the halls for the 1st time as 7th graders, realizing we were small fish again, and hoping that we got a top locker. We loved assemblies and pep rallies and would pay $1 for a prom fashion show, even as a Jr. High student if it meant we got out of class. We fell in "love" with senior boys, and got our hearts broken when they never looked our way. We did book reports on "Where the Red Fern Grows" and wore our Dick Tracy t-shirts tied on the side with our jeans tight rolled.
We held spend the night parties, rolled yards, and prank called people from our home phone...our only phone. We had lock-ins at church, choir tours and beach retreats. We took road trips to Opryland and Point Mallard in the summer.
We went to football games on Friday nights to walk around the track and meet boys, not to watch the games. We dressed up during homecoming week, and had wars between the Juniors and Seniors. We won baseball state championships, and cried at graduation.
Everyone knew you and all of your business. We knew the mayor and he knew us. Life in our sweet, small town, hasn't always been great, but it's home.
On April 27, 2011, a massive tornado came in and tore down a lot of the houses that my friends used to live in. While it may have destroyed the way our little town had looked for all those years, it didn't destroy our sense of community. I think I love it much more today than I did on April 26th. Sometimes you just don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
What's your small town like?
