What I love about my small town—

1. The Antique Aspects

I’ll start with the fact that when I drive through my home town, it feels like I’ve went back about 50 years in time. All the historic buildings are still standing and most of them are the same family-owned businesses that my parents grew up giving business to. This is possible because most people in a small town support local businesses, as they should.

2. You never meet a stranger

Odds are, even if you don’t know the elderly lady checking you out at the Piggly Wiggly, she’ll recognize you and ask how your grandmother is doing. You’ll just smile and tell her she’s fine!

3. Small town hospitality

Okay, so we all know southern hospitality is a thing.. but i think it gratifies within a small town. Everyone greets everyone with a ma’am or sir, regardless of their age or authority. You don’t walk into a place of business without hearing a “hey how are ya today? let me know if I can help you with anything, ma’am.”

4. Everyone dies famous

Yes, it’s true.. and Miranda Lambert said it best, ‘everybody dies famous in a small town.’ You don’t have to worry about making a name for yourself, you just have to worry about what kind of name you make for yourself. The choices you make will be the talk of the town, and if you chose to raise your kids here.. they WILL know everything about you, the good and the not so good.

5. Traditions

My town will look for any excuse in the world to have a parade, and that’s one of my favorite parts. There’s a Christmas parade, a dogwood parade, a homecoming parade, Fourth of July parade, and many more. Every event is one big block party filled with music, food, games, and more food.

6. No traffic

I can get almost anywhere in town in about 15 minutes. Now am I still going to be late to wherever I’m going? Probably so.

7. There’s ALWAYS something to do

Most people would say there’s nothing to do in my town because there’s no movie theatre, skating rink, or mall. But I have never run out of things to do. There’s always a dirt road to ride, a lake to wet a line at, or a river to float. These little things are the things that I enjoy most.

8. It’s where I belong

Do I ever plan on leaving? Yeah, most likely my career will require me to. But no worries, I will be back. I couldn’t imagine raising a family anywhere else. I

want my kids to have the same respect as I do for my wonderful small town, and raising them anywhere else just wouldn’t feel right. As much as people will tell you that you need to get out, it’s not always true. Some of us are meant for leaving, others of us are meant for staying right here in the same place we’ve always called home.