I grew up in a small country village in the middle of nowhere farming country, and I love every single minute of it. Towns like mine are a dime a dozen, and I’m sure that they can be found sprinkled all across the States.

If you grew up in a small town, here are a few things you might recognize from your day to day life.

Supporting small businesses

Running into all of your neighbors at the bank

Going to Church and recognizing every face in the congregation

Summer baseball and softball leagues

Working at one of the local businesses and memorizing the local's grocery list

Watching farm equipment drive down the road like a normal vehicle

Having to drive at least an hour to get to a decent size city

Frequently losing cell phone service

Your family lives super close to you

The playscape in your backyard entertained you for hours

Stargazing in silence

Not being surprised when you hear strange sentences like they're normal occurrences

Example: "The chickens have escaped the coop again!"

Learning how to drive on the backroads

Going into the one restaurant in town and feeling like the waitress is family.

Getting back and saying, “Yup, this is home.”

Some, maybe even all, of these things might have inspired a memory in you, but none of them are the same as someone else’s. Small towns may have some of the same features, but they all come in different shapes and sizes. I love my tiny hometown of Maybee, Michigan and I know that there isn’t another village out there exactly like it. I’m not there all of the time, but when I drive across the village limits I always smile and say: “Yup, this is home.”