No matter where I am, I am asked where I am from. I always mention the small town where I am from and then have to fill in the blank stare with, “Oh you know it is an hour away from the capital.” It used to bother me but now after being away for awhile I start to understand why I love being from such a small town. I do not love it because it is not just a place where people do not know where it is, but because it is a town that is filled with so many memories.
I love how when I am driving around town I can see a car go by and I know exactly who is driving and I get to wave at them. There is just something so comfortable about being able to know who is around you. Being in a small town is so nice because you can drive around and see places where you had so many different memories. From passing the Tasty Freeze to our middle school, there are so many memories in such a small town.
It is nice when I go to the grocery store with my family and what started out as a five-minute trip turned into an hour, just because we end up running into so many people. I love how when I am there with my parents and the people that we are talking to in the store ask about my life not because they feel like they have to, but because they want to see how my life has changed since our last encounter. There is something so nice about running into old classmates and asking them how their post-high school lives are going.
One thing about high school in my town was that there was always so many people there but yet everyone knew everyone. People would have unassigned parking spots and nothing felt worse than when you would arrive later than you normally did and you would lose your spot. Then came graduation day, and as we were all sitting there, it sunk in. This would be the last time that we would all be in the same building at the same time. It did not hit me until the last person walked across the stage to get their diploma.
The thing about small towns is that no one really knows where it is except the people who live within an hour radius of our town. I would not change this for a million things in this world because there is something that is so comforting about knowing that your town is not the center of the world. It does not matter what happens in my life, I am always going to be so proud of the town I am from. No hometown is perfect but it is up to you to find the perfections in your imperfect town.
