Today's Tuesday 4 asks questions about where you grew up. Join me if you'd like.
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| An aerial view of my town when I lived there. You can see that the business part of the town was built in a valley but most of the people lived in the hills surrounding the downtown, including me. |
What was your hometown like? Or home state or both! I've talked here about my hometown and state many times. As most of you know, I grew up in a small town in West Virginia. My parents continued to live there until they passed away a few years ago, so I was able to keep up with the town and the people there. I haven't lived there full time since I was 18 years old, but I still get the weekly newspaper. So you might say, that I have a deep connection to where I grew up.
While you might not know everyone, you knew most people, and things were done on a personal level. One story I like to tell is that one summer I went to Girl Scout camp with a friend and after camp, another camper wrote a letter to me using my friend's address because she lost mine. However, the post office delivered it to my house.
It was a town where my parents did most of their business by talking to people when they saw them instead of calling an office, and most local elections were determined by what people thought about the character of the person running rather than what they promised they would do.
My town was a place where you greeted everyone you met on the street. I lived in town and walked to school and most everywhere else. Friday night football games and Sunday church were a big part of the social life for many people including me. (I was a cheerleader, so I was at most of the sporting events by default.)
Did you enjoy where you grew up? Why? I did enjoy where I grew up because of the sense of community. It was also small enough to be able to get involved in many things. More than once, my parents told me that I had to cut back on my activities in both school and the community because they were taking up too much time. I would drop out of a couple things, but somehow a few months later, I'd be right back where I started. Luckily, I was able to keep up my grades and home responsibilities (Mostly. I won't say that I always completed everything on the worklist in the most timely manner but the important stuff got done.)
How much did where you grew up shape you? I was greatly influenced by where I grew up as I think most people are. I learned to value hard work and be genuinely friendly. I learned to appreciate the simpler things in life and the importance of being responsible for yourself. These were values not only present in my family but ones I saw around me.
What were some of the best and worst things about where you grew up? I think I've covered many of the good things, but one of the bad things about my county was the schools were not in great shape. At one point, money was misspent from a school bond issue and people had a long memory of that. No school bond issues passed the whole time I was in school and the top two floors of my high school were condemned. (Note: The pro votes were often over 50%, but they had to pass with 60% of the votes.) I had many classes in termite-infested portable buildings that another county got rid of. But it wasn't as bad as it sounds. They were just fine except in the spring when the bugs swarmed. Then we'd meet outside. However, I had some great teachers along the way and competed quite favorably with others in college who had gone to much more privileged schools.
This is a topic that is hard to cover in just a few paragraphs, but this will have to do for now because the cats are calling me.
Until next time...
