Small Towns

I've been thinking a lot about small towns today. I've mentioned what it is like to be from my hometown. I used to say as a teenager, when I did something wrong my parents would hear from someone about it before I did even it. You have less privacy when you know every person on your street. In cities, you can be anonymous but, when tragedy strikes, it pays to not be anonymous.

Aaron and I returned to his hometown for the funeral of one of Aaron's closest childhood friends. He was killed in a snowmobile accident last week leaving a wife and four young kids. I've known Shawn almost as long as I've known Aaron. It was a very hard day for us.

The line for the viewing stretched all around the church. The funeral was packed. As I looked at all the people at the cemetery, I thought about how much love and support people show in times of tragedy. I think the entire small town takes it personally when one of it's own dies.

They also show support in good times as well. Everybody is rooting for Blake Lewis on American Idol. The woman he calls grandma lives in Aaron's hometown. The problem is the with over 30 million votes each week, the few hundred from Franklin, Idaho might not really matter. It's a good thing that more people around the country vote for Blake.

I've noticed there is more patriotism in small towns. I think it has something to do with the land. In the city, there is less of it, you really don't feel ownership. In the country, you work the land every day. You become a part of it and it becomes a part of you.

It's interesting to me. Aaron and I have lived in the "outside world", we had incredible experiences that we will always cherish, but when we thought about raising our children, we returned to our roots. We realized that a small town is where we wanted to be. We want to teach our kids to work the land, to truly love their neighbor, and to feel what it is like to be a part of a real community.