Tried and True.. Life in a small town

Tried and True… Life in a small town

Not only is the blog’s namesake from a line in my high school fight song, it explains a little about my life so far.  I hope to share things I’ve tried and what I have found to be true, and what seemed to miss the mark.

The school song link comes from my tie to my hometown, Edon, Ohio.  After moving to Illinois, I don’t feel very many people here really have that strong bond to their high school.  My high school and hometown is who I am.  The town made me.  When I pass the golf course and start seeing Reitzel’s tractor’s, I feel arms wide open and ready for a hug and a Welcome Home.  I swear ‘My Home’ by Montgomery Gentry was written about Edon.

It’s impossible to drive down the main roads or pass a park and not see some sort of an Edon Bomber t-shirt, hoodie or jacket.  School spirit at its finest.  Bleeding blue and gray.  Kids growing up knowing that Friday and Saturday nights, you go to ball games.  These boys may have NFL or NBA heroes, but they also watch their heroes play on Friday nights. When kids graduate, you’ll still find the parents going to the games, and still sit in their same seats. Invested.  Not just in a person or family, but their town.

When you leave, you learn to appreciate the little things our village has to offer, and this is just a few:

One stop light, and getting to where you need to be in 5 minutes.  I had a friend say he drove through Edon once, I told him he should have stopped!  He replied with, “The light was green.”One of the saddest days is the DT closing up shop, however, spring rolls around and they are back open for business.  Tim once ate there for lunch and dinner – he loves the Bomber Burger.The smell of the hardware.  I love antiques and DIY’s, so I stop in the hardware and the Mudsock Mercantile every time I’m home, the creativity is inspiring.Explaining to new visitors what a co-op is, and remember the long lines of tractors on harvest days.We can’t forget the breakfast pizza at the gas station and we don’t go a visit without the Pizza Oven.  Small chicken bacon ranch sub, please!📷Amish..Darkness.  The pitch black and silent nights.  Just the light of the moon and stars.  The silence is deafening when you are used to constant planes, trains and automobiles.

It’s ok to leave.  But it’s also ok to stay. You stay, and you get to raise your kids in one of the greatest villages in the midwest.  Life is so much simpler in the small town.  The simplicity is so comforting.

Parade’s, ball games, easter egg hunts and garage sales.  There is nothing like a small town.  There is nothing like my small town.