Thanks, But No Thanks, Walmart

Source of photo: https://themilkyway.ca/the-one-word-you-must-learn-to-say/

As a kid who grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone else, it came as a bit of a shock to me, to end up living my entire working life in a big, indifferent city. I am an introvert, though, so despite the culture shock, there was a great deal of appeal for me, being absolutely swallowed up in a big, anonymous crowd. I think that people who love to sit and quietly think for hours may have fewer issues with big-city obscurity.

Nonetheless, I never did shake the part of me that had grown up in a place where most folks knew one another. Looking as much like my Mom as I do, even as a kid, I never went anywhere without being told: “Oh, you must be Y_’s daughter!” There is something very comforting about being in a place where, as the song goes, “everybody knows your name”.

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In Sickness and in Health

I am not a natural nurse. I am, in fact, pretty much the very opposite of a natural nurse.

The Barn

My husband and I go to this wonderful place a few times a week to visit with a good-sized group of friends.

Awesome Grammy

Our Broken Driveway (a.k.a. Life in a Small Town)

My husband and I knew one another at least 20 years before we became a couple and got married, but in fact, he remembers me from even earlier than that:

Waiting Room

I am sitting at the doctor’s office, waiting for my turn to go in and have a check-up. The wait is a long one but as usual, I pass the time by watching the dynamics of the patients as they enter and leave the small waiting room. I have always been a very content people watcher. I notice the baby before I notice his mother. Perhaps two or three months old, he is sitting in an infant car seat and peering around with eyes that seem to be as round as quarters.