A woman had breast cancer, so the neighbors donated cattle to be auctioned off to benefit her family. Some of those animals were auctioned multiple times. A little boy drowned and his whole town was on its knees begging God for his recovery. Millions of acres in Texas and Oklahoma burned in a record drought. Famers from across the nation loaded up semis with hay of every variety. Then they shipped that hay on their dime and either donated the hay or sold it to the ranchers for pennies on the dollar. A woman, new to the town, gave birth and the community stepped up to help with her other kids as she had no family in the area. A local business has spotted the gap in the trades, so they pick up the tab for college and provide guaranteed employment for 3 years after to any young man or woman seeking a career in diesel technology. Groceries are delivered anonymously to a family in need.

It’s a blessing and a curse to live in a small town. When the air is cool on a Friday night and the stands are filled with dedicated high school football fans it’s easy to live in a small town. When the town square or main street is filled with Christmas decorations and everyone has a smile on their face, living in a small town is utopian. When you can leave your doors unlocked, your keys in your truck and even know where a half dozen of your neighbors keep their spare key when they’re on vacation; living in a small town seems like paradise.

There’s an old saying that runs around many a small town. ‘If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t worry, someone else does.” And that’s the supposed curse of living in a small town. Almost everyone makes it their business to be in most everyone else’s business. Growing up our local newspaper had a group of columns about news in local communities. Ours was “The Ottumwa News”. It told of the happenings in our part of the county. There is no town there now, but at one time there was. This column became a way of staying in touch with one’s neighbors when you didn’t get to see them very often. It highlighted travels, death, births, accomplishments and maybe a tiny bit of gossip thinly veiled as news. To those of us raised in that area it was not a big deal, but as I grew and met folks from big cities, I realized they saw it as invasive and tacky. They wanted the small-town charm, but with the anonymity of the city.

If you’re from a big city, please listen closely. When you move to a small town, you are committing yourself to a different lifestyle. It isn’t possible to have all the amenities of a big city in a small town. Conceding defeat in the realm of privacy is just one aspect of small towns that must be accepted upon arrival. Believe it or not, if your neighbors are nosey, it’s for your benefit. You’ll know your kids are in trouble long before they arrive on your doorstep. When you lose your favorite uncle, flowers will be delivered anonymously. Stop and ask yourself what the reasons are for leaving the city and then stand firm in not dragging those same things into the small town. Take a breath. Become a local. Join the town’s organizations, Kiwanis, Masons, Chamber of Commerce, etc. Choose to add to the good reasons that brought you to this small town.