"So, where are you from?"
I grew up dreading this question, knowing full well that my answer was much too complicated to explain, so I drafted a default response: "I'm from Richmond, Virginia." Truthfully, I always just found it easier than explaining that there actually is a difference of about ten minutes from Richmond and where I'm from. Every time I use this response, though, I will admit feeling a twinge of guilt--as if I'm cheating my hometown out of the recognition it deserves. The fact of the matter is that Mechanicsville, Virginia is not a well known point on the big maps, but it should be given much more credit than it receives. You can take a person out of Mechanicsville, but I assure you that you will never take the Mechanicsville out of the person. This is the place where we were raised, and any resident of significant time can tell you how great of a place it is to live, grow and find yourself in. You know you're from Mechanicsville when all of this hails true, even if you don't want to admit it.
Being a town in a southern state (albeit being slightly more Northern than the rest) means that we do things a little differently. In Mechanicsville, sweet tea is always a beverage option at any grocery store or restaurant (no, I don't mean that unsweet tea that you just added sweeteners to-- you Northern folks call that sweet?). We love some high school football (go Lee-Davis), which is the usual root cause of extreme traffic backups on the main roads every Friday night--namely 360 and 301. Speaking of traffic, don't even get us started about Sunday afternoons during the post-church lunch rush; good luck trying to get a table at the local Cracker Barrel. For every destination in town we can tell you three routes that'll take you there: the interstate, the main roads, and the backroads. On our daily commutes, our surroundings can change from completely rural to typical suburbia in less than a mile--from fields of corn to rows of office buildings and subdivisions.
Our town is located in Hanover County, Virginia-- a place of dense historical value. If you grew up in Mechanicsville, you've probably attended a Civil War reenactment at least once in your life, and there's more than likely a national battlefield within a few miles of your house. Some of us take advantage of this and some of us don't...after living in Mechanicsville for a long period, you're bound to be pretty knowledgeable about local historical sites. There aren't a lot of smaller towns that can say that their history is so complex and interesting, and that's one of the things that sets Mechanicsville apart.
We aren't a huge city, but we aren't the smallest town you've ever seen. Somehow, though, everyone manages to be connected to one another in some way, and this shows its true colors during tough times. In triumph and in tragedy, the people of the 'Ville are looking for ways to help one another and the community, which is such a refreshing contrast from most of society today. We're lucky to live in a place with such caring people because it has taught us to carry that on in future generations, and the importance of being kind. It's such a blessing to live in a place so surrounded by love and compassion.
Where you're from plays a huge role in who you are, and this is what Mechanicsville is to us. No matter what we might say and where we might go, our hometown and the things it taught us will always stick with us.
I'm from Mechanicsville, Virginia, and there's no other place I'd want to call home.
