small-town America

When Hubby and I first got married I wanted to move somewhere BIG--somewhere like New York or Boston. Hubby wanted to move somewhere smaller--somewhere like, well, small. So we compromised and moved to Tulsa. While in Tulsa we had our kids and I started paying attention to such things as schools and violence, things that I hadn't worried about too much in my life pre-kids. One lady I worked with said it best "With my kids in Coweta [super-duper small town] I know everything about all of their friends." Just the kind of breathing-down-your-neck opportunity I want to have with my kids. And I'm being serious when I say that.



So when the opportunity came to move back to the Wichita area, Hubby and I started looking into small towns. We wanted the small schools close but the violence far away from our front door. And here's the thing: we moved here for the kids and now I love it. I would not want to be anywhere else. At the grocery store I run into friends. When I meet new people they already know a lot of the same people that I know. We walk downtown for the hometown parades, and while there we'll see and talk to lots of people we know. And when we take our walks around the neighborhood we run into people from church.



One night my sweet sister and her husband came out and watched our kiddos, so Hubby and I went to the "Indiana Jones" movie in Augusta at our historic theatre. Hubby and I sat down and started chatting with eachother when a girl in front of us jumped in on our conversation. It sounds weird but it wasn't. It's just part of living in Augusta and it was fun. Then the credits started, only before the credits there was a flag waving on the screen and the national anthem started. Friends, everyone in that theatre stood up while the national anthem played. And another benefit of being in a small town: unabashed patriotism.

We thoroughly enjoy all of it.