Small Towns

I hope I haven't written about this before, but I can't remember, so what the heck...here I go again.

You know that song by John Mellencamp about life in a Small Town? In it, he waxes poetic about the good things about living in a small town. Lately, I've developed a new appreciation for those lyrics, because again and again, I'm reminded that I live in a very small town. It isn't really that small population wise, but I grew up here and many, many people from my youth settled here too.

Actually sometimes the connections are as twisted as a grapevine. A woman I was teaching Sunday school with turned out to be a high school friend of my cousin and when she told me her maiden name, I remembered her Mom as the high school french teacher. I was at a dinner last night and a woman approached me to ask if I was married to the Dad. When I said yes, she told me she knew him through her son, who went to high school with him. At the grocery store, I run into classmates. In line at the post office, I see old teachers. Walking through Kindergarten registration, I catch up with friends of my siblings that I haven't seen in a while. My life sometimes feels like an ongoing high school reunion. And let me tell you, it makes the real ones anticlimatic if the out of towners don't show up.

There are downsides to these never ending connections. It never fails that when I just run into the store for a few things, there stands someone I haven't spoken to in 20 years and of course, conversation is mandatory. And there are times when I see people I haven't seen in years and didn't care then or now if I ever see them again. But on the whole, it's very positive especially at times of big change.

Right now, the transition into Kindergarten is looming large for us. It's not only a new school, but whole new phase in parenting. New friends, new connections to be made, new experiences for our entire family. But today, while we were working the birthday party circuit, when the talk turned to kindergarten--as all talks do these days--I found out one of the cousin's of the birthday boy will most likely be in La Nina's class. Of course, the Mom went to high school with my brother, her aunt with to high school with me, another Aunt with the Dad. We know the grandparents and most of the other cousins too. It was so reassuring to hear the latest school scoop from someone I've known for years.

Then we went to a second birthday party with another group from high school. At that party, we were able to swap notes with another potential classmate of La Nina. One of the Moms, asked me about the preschool we're at, because her youngest is about to start...and he'll be in Maggie's class. The funny part: She recommended the preschool to me originally and I was able to return the favor and update her on the comings and goings of teachers and kids.

So, when La Nina starts school in August, many of the names will be the same ones from my elementary school and soccer days. And while it's all a little incestuous, I'm grateful for the connections. Because I know through the maze of my long time connections, any bumps in our ride will be a little more comfortable.