Reflections on a Small Town

This month has been a whirlwind of activity.  Maddox is in her last weeks of first grade, Graham has been in Norway for the second half of the month, and craziest of all, we are trying to sell our house!  (If I can stop vacuuming and dusting long enough to sit down, I'll share more about that whole experience in another blog this weekend.)  But it's inside this tornado of chaos that I have found myself very reflective about the little town of Orange, Virginia that we have called "home" over the last five years.  We really love this place and I'd like to share a few reasons why we hold it so dear.

I can remember shortly after moving to Orange and meeting a few people, that I was supposed to go to Charleston, SC with some college girlfriends for a 30th birthday celebration.  Graham was deployed at the time and I was pregnant with the twins and the day before the trip, my sister-in-law (and babysitter for the weekend) called to say that my nephew had strep throat and was throwing up on top of that.  The whole trip was in jeopardy but for two new friends from church, Kim and Tracey, who stepped in to take turns keeping Maddox over the weekend.  I was so grateful and she had a blast and became forever buddies with a little firecracker named Elly.  In a small town, people respond graciously to your request for help.

Another more serious example of friends stepping in to help occurred a few years ago.  As I was driving home from Richmond one day, I felt like I had a catch in my chest and couldn't quite get my breath.  By the time I got home I was clammy and dizzy and felt like I was the classic case of a female with heart attack symptoms.  My friend Corie came right down the street, called EMS, and prayed with me until they arrived, then took Maddox to her house to play with her girls for the evening.  My wonderful babysitter Marlene kept the twins a little longer that day and then a  good neighbor and friend, Barbara, picked up Henry and Harper and put them to bed at home.  Graham and I came back from the hospital later that evening, tired but so grateful to our friends. In a small town, people take care of each other.

After Henry and Harper were born, I was totally overwhelmed by motherhood- often feeling trapped within the four walls of my house-and needed a break in scenery, especially when they became mobile.  In swooped a sweetheart of a college-aged girl named Jacquie who, a few days a week for a summer, woke up early and came over to take care of my little movers so Mom could get a break.  In a small town, the babysitters are the BEST!

Maddox began her kindergarten year at Grymes Memorial School and has begged and pleaded to ride the bus just as often as she can every day since then.  Her journey to and from school is only about ten minutes and she loves it.  In a small town, I don't worry about sending a child to school on the bus.

Although we are looking to move somewhere a bit larger, my family has so enjoyed the rural scenery of Orange.  You can't beat the views on Little Skyline Drive, the dairy farm in Somerset that belongs to my friend Heidi, the iconic village of Rapidan, or the silhouettes of horses in pasture as the sun goes down at Rounton Farm.  In a small town, kids can get back to nature.

My girlfriends and I often take advantage of our small town life by making everything an event.  From an Academy Awards birthday party for a friend to a fancy dinner out at The Inn at Willow Grove to a Christmas celebration at The Market at Grelen to an annual November afternoon at the Montpelier Hunt Races, we find reasons to dress up, get out, and take advantage of our life here.  In a small town, you create your own entertainment!

So here's to all the small towns out there!  The sense of community you provide cannot be matched and your benefits are too many to mention.