When John Mellencamp sang the lyrics to ‘Small town’ many people replied with a small town ‘AMEN!’ When I was growing up in a small town in Missouri I never thought I would want to return to another small town less than an hour away when I grew up. It’s funny how having children changes those plans though! We spent 7 years in a large city for my husband’s residency training and although we managed to find 10 acres just outside the city, we knew that we wanted to return to a small town to raise our family.

We had only lived in our little town of Flippin, Arkansas (population just under 1400) for a few months before I could no longer go to WalMart without running into someone I knew. Although this can be less than ideal when you are running errands in a hurry with messy hair under a baseball cap and no makeup, it is also refreshing. I rarely saw a familiar face while I was out and about in the big city and everyone seemed so rushed to even look up and smile or hold a door.

I love our little newspaper. The crime in a small town is next to nothing and the thought of something happening to my kids as they are at school or playing outside never crosses my mind. The big news in a small town is that there is an upcoming parade or who won last week’s ballgame. It makes me smile rather than cringe when I see the headlines.

I have always been told that I tend to only see good in people and that I should probably have my guard up a little more. Yeah, maybe so. I just don’t like to live like that. But in my small town there are so many amazing people that I can focus on the good and not worry as much about the ‘bad guys.’

When we first moved to Flippin, my then 6 year old said, “mom, why does everyone wave at you when we drive?” It was such a cute observation that made me laugh. Now I catch myself doing the steering wheel wave. Ahh. Only in small towns. 🖤

Small towns have the best celebrations. Have you ever been to a small town parade or attended an annual small town festival? Have you heard a banjo on the square on a Saturday night during the summer? Have you sat on a blanket in a field and watched fireworks at a small town park? Have you listened to local bands play music while eating a snow cone while children run around without shoes on? Have you stopped into Beccas Sugar Shack to grab a cookie when taking a walk downtown? Have you attended a small town basketball game? Have you really even lived!?

When we lived in a big city it would take me 30 min to an hour or more to get to where we were going depending on if I hit rush hour or not. In our small town ‘rush hour’ is usually before school starts and after school lets out and even then we are home in 10 minutes. A few times a year we have to travel to work conventions and they are always in big cities. Although the food is amazing and we enjoy a weekend of neverending entertainment options, we are always ready to return home where we see trees and can breathe again.

When we first moved here we had a vehicle break down, but you wouldn’t know it because we didn’t miss a beat- you see the only three people we knew at that point stepped in without hesitation. The first person gave us a ride to where we were going, the second person gave us a loaner vehicle to use ‘as long as we needed it’ and the third person fixed the vehicle for us. That is something you just don’t see in a big town. If we were stranded on the side of the road I know someone would stop and help us and then probably send us on our way with some homemade bread- haha! Maybe not the homemade bread part, but you get the idea. The willingness to help one another is unmatched in our small town.

We have planted our roots and will raise our eight children in this small town. They will leave this small town one day with the life skills and work ethic that they learned here and I selfishly hope that they return one day with their families. Just like we did.

Until next time,