Small Town USA

by | Oct 1, 2008 | journey, me

I was thinking earlier this week that the majority of my 30+ years have been spent living in a small town–all but probably three years! I did some research and found the current populations of some of these towns. I’m confident that these small towns have grown in population since the time I lived in them.

  • The town I was born in has a current population of 1,898.
  • When I was seven years old we moved to a town who’s population is now 682.
  • When I was ten, we moved to the town where I live now with a current population of 601.
  • During my college years and before I met my husband, I lived in a much larger city with a population of 120,758.
  • After my husband and I were married, we lived in the country outside of a town with the current population of 1,662.
  • Six years ago we moved back to my “hometown” (current population 601), and reside just outside of town.

I consider where we live now my hometown because I’ve spent most of my life here, graduated from high school here, and have the most memories here. I love small town living! I love the fact that when living in a small town, you know most of the residents. (I didn’t care for that so much growing up–everybody always knew what I was up to!) People know your name here. Doing business with the local gas station, stores, restaurants, mechanic garage, etc. is much appreciated by the owners. There’s a sense of community and loyalty with your neighbors. (Our neighbor plowed us out countless times last winter when we would get drifted in with snow! Thank goodness!)

I remember growing up rarely were our doors ever locked at home…even at night. I don’t ever remember our cars being locked in our driveway. It was always safe to walk through the town, no matter what time of day. I still feel it is today.

In my next post, I’m going to write about our school. It was small, but very special. Many memories, of which I hold very dear to me, were made at that school. Stay tuned for that! 🙂

In thinking of my small town, it reminded me of the song Small Town by John Mellencamp. I looked up the lyrics, and when I read through them, they made me smile. Most of the words fit me and how I feel about living in a small town. I’m sharing the lyrics with you below.

Well I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Prob’ly die in a small town
Oh, those small communities
All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity
Educated in a small town
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another boring romantic that’s me
But I’ve seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town
Now she’s small town just like me
No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be
Got nothing against a big town
Still hayseed enough to say
Look who’s in the big town
But my bed is in a small town
Oh, and that’s good enough for me
Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
And that’s prob’ly where they’ll bury me
Thanks for allowing me to share!
Blessings,
Julie
Previous Post
Next Post

Related posts

Thanks for stopping by.

I’d love to hear from you!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Just for you!

Real encouragement, updates, and free resources from me. 

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This