I love living in a small town!
Now, let me admit, my “small town” isn’t super small. I know several CBA pals who live in REALLY small towns. My town, Martinez, has about 45,000 people in it, so my “real” small town friends may scoff at me.
My wife and I love the “town” feel of Martinez and while the town is certainly big enough that many residents (maybe most, I don’t know) may not share the small town vibe. But we live right downtown, and are very involved in the town’s activities – the politics, the arts and music and the people. On top of that, my wife has taught at the local pre-school for over 30 years.
So, nearly every little shop or business in Martinez has people who either came through my wife’s school, or whose kids did. Couple that with my involvement in the local music scene, and we are deeply entrenched here.
This visibility can cut both ways. Anyone in trouble in Martinez is very likely to get an outpouring of help and concern from their neighbors. Conversely, it’s not a good town to have any secrets, because they won’t stay secrets. If you’re lucky, they might just reach “rumor” status, but they won’t stay secret for long.
About 5 years ago, an eccentric homeless person passed away here and the town grieved as if a founding father was lost. It was touching, In a small town, even the town eccentrics are seen as people, worthy of compassion and respect. When the Boston Marathon was disrupted by a mad bomber, a local boy was injured and the town organized a number of fund raising activities for the family – we all participated. Most recently, the town was rocked by a horrific tragedy – in a freak accident, a young mother was killed – her car was crushed in her driveway by a gravel truck that tipped over.
Nobody in town, it seemed, was separated by more than a couple of degrees from the victim. Her small child goes to my wife’s school. We will be pulling together some efforts to ease that family’s suffering – there will be individual efforts, and there will be group efforts – I don’t even know what, yet. But we will rally and do what we can.
Yes, the small town goldfish bowl may reveal more that we might wish, but the trade-off is to be part of a sense of community that is downright Capra-esque. And being part of that community makes me feel like a better, more involved human being. It gives life more meaning to pitch in and give time, effort and money.
Of course, a cynic would say my “small town” is really just my neighborhood in a larger town, and maybe that’s true. But I have lived in neighborhoods that didn’t have the same sense of community, even after some considerable effort to create it. Maybe it’s just easier to rally around the notion of a home town than a home turf…
Please give your thoughts and prayers for the victim of the tragedy (and her family) this week.
