Everyone has a place they grew up (duh), but there’s something special about growing up in a small town where everyone knows you; it just feels like home. It’s different than growing up in a big city, or even an outskirt of a bigger city. You just, for some reason, feel special because it’s your town.

1. “WHERE IS THAT?!” is a common question.
   And you have a very generic answer about how you live between two major cities.
2. No one can remember when he or she met each other.
   You’ve become such a big part of each other's lives that you just assume you’ve all known each other since kindergarten. Even if you met in middle school, or even two weeks ago.
3. You can name everyone in your graduating class
   Yes, even the new kid that just moved in two weeks ago.
4. One word: roundabouts.
5. You feel a sense of family with anyone who says they're from your hometown.
6. Getting fast food for dinner and walking around Walmart is the fun thing to do.
   Even though you had to drive 20 minutes to get there.
7. The sound of a train horn does not bother you at all.
8. Everyone seems related, one way or another.
9. Sports are a BIG deal.
   Sometimes even more than schoolwork. Your school might not be great at football, but your women’s volleyball team has gone to state every year for four years straight.
10. Your high school mascot is something weird like a potato. GO SPUDS!
    (http://www.ridge.k12.wa.us/Page/1429)
11. You know everyone and everyone knows you.
    Walking into the corner store downtown, you are guaranteed to run into at least two people you know. Even though you may not talk to them and will avoid them at all costs, you still know them.
12. Hardly anyone locks their doors (yes, even in 2015).
    Your town isn’t scary and you feel comfortable walking around at night.
13. The main topic when you run into someone after graduating is, “Do you remember when … ?”
    And it’s never a good memory. It’s usually something like, “Do you remember when so and so dated so and so?”
14. News spreads like wildfire, good or bad.
    Only if it’s something big, though, because no one really cares that Johnny is dating Sally. But if you got a scholarship to a big school, everyone will know about it and congratulate you.
15. Everyone gets angry about construction and new buildings.
    You enjoy your small town and you don’t want to see it changing or expanding.
16. You have a “golf cart zone.”
    Maybe this is just my small town, but how else would you get around?
17. Your 4^th of July parade is huge.
18. People come in from all over just to go to your small-town parade.
19. Everyone wants to leave.
20. But they always come back.

Deep down, we all love our little towns; they are home. No matter how far away we move or how cool we think we are, our small town will always and forever have a special place in our hearts. And more often than not, we will end up back there no matter how far away we roam.

I love my small town. Even coming home from college, all I wanted to do was walk around downtown, drive the old back roads, and “accidentally” run into people I know. I love my small town, and I’m proud of where I come from.