Posts Tagged ‘returning’

Home Again

May 21st, 2010

(Note: It’s Friday, which means this post is a part of our “I Feel Fridays” project.  Our goal is to share stories from the past week that generated an emotional response.  We encourage readers to respond to the post or to share something from their lives in the past week. To learn more about “I Feel Fridays,” check out this post- and then tell us what you’re feeling.)

I came home from college for the summer this week, and nearly everyone I met in my hometown made me feel welcomed back into the community.  That’s something I haven’t felt in a while.

I grew up on a family farm in Howard, SD.  I then decided to travel 788 miles down Interstate-90 to attend the School of Architecture at Montana State University – Bozeman.  I knew I would miss my family and friends, but I was ready to make the change.  What I didn’t think I would miss as much as I do is the community.

Howard is pretty small, and I was ready for bigger things – a bigger town, a bigger school and a sense of “bigger” that would come from me moving there.  I didn’t think I was better than my friends who stayed, but I thought I was on a new adventure to try completely new things.  While this is true, I started to miss the things I once took for granted. 

For instance, the meat that showed up on my dining hall plate was not from our cows or our neighbors pigs.  I couldn’t find any garden fresh kohlrabi in the salad department.  Worst of all, it definitely wasn’t cooked by Mom.

I would drive down to Target and the cashier didn’t ask me about my Grandpa, only if I wanted my receipt with me or in the bag.  My floormates laughed at my hometown newspaper saying, “It’s for the whole county, only comes once a week, and the main story is about a cow?!”   I started to defend my little paper by explaining it was Fair week, and the steer won Best in Show for a local 4-H kid.  They didn’t think it was a big deal.

I truly realized how much I missed the community my first night home from college during Winter Break when I walked into the Cabaret Steakhouse in Carthage, SD with my parents.  As we found a table, friends and neighbors all smiled at me and asked how it felt to be done with my first semester in Montana.  I was caught off guard because these people cared enough to stop eating, talk to me, and remember were I was going to school and what subject I was studying. 

That’s when it hit me: Bozeman may be a very friendly town, but it doesn’t even compare to Miner County.  When I go back to school, only my close friends and professors will welcome me with a smile and genuinely care how my summer went.  When I walk into the restaurants, no one will ask how it’s going in Howard or say how nice it is to have me back in town.

I think a previous post about Tom Bodett’s thoughts on a small town embody why I love Miner County.  The small-town community is hard to explain, but now that I have gone away the pull for me to come back is getting stronger.

I’ve now finished my third year at MSU and I’m no longer caught off guard by people saying, “It’s so good to see you!  How long are you home for this time?”  I happily answer, “The whole summer, and I’m really glad to be home.”

 

Photo: Miner County residents do their best in a pie eating contest to celebrate Straw Bale Days in Carthage, SD, uploaded to Flickr by the Rural Learning Center

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Posted in Gen Y, Quality of Life, Rural, Rural Life | Comments (4)