Bye Bye Small Town

When I first moved to Aberdeen two years ago my world was turned upside down by living in a small town. It was DIFFERENT. And after standing in the checkout line for 20 minutes because the cashier knew and chit chatted with every single customer, I was immediately irritated by small town living. But then it grew on me as things tend to do and now upon leaving my heart is full of love for the cute small town quirks I've come to enjoy. I will never forget the sometimes unusual and oftentimes sweet experience of living here. 

I'm going to miss our garbage man who knows Cooper by name and gets out of his truck to talk to Cooper every week and reminisce about how fast he's growing. I'm going to miss the owner of our favorite restaurant who always gives Cooper a free bag of chips because he remembers how much Cooper loves them. I'm going to miss the people at the YMCA who keep track of how far I run and congratulate me when I make progress. I'm going to miss Josh being out of town announced on the radio. I'm going to miss the receptionist at the speech therapy office who prints out a pictures of Thomas the Train for Cooper when he's upset. I'm going to miss calling the doctor to reschedule an appointment I had to cancel and them saying, "Oh Cooper's mom right?" I'm going to miss the lady at the post office calling to tell us our Christmas packages came. I'm going to miss the librarian who double checked the hold I placed on a science fiction book because it didn't seem like what I usually read (Josh was using my card.) I'm going to miss the lady at the video rental in Safeway telling me she didn't charge me a late fee because she knows I have two small kids that are hard to take to the store. I'm going to miss whoever honks at me when I'm running down my street and yells, "Hey Orange Shirt!" I'm going to miss the employees at Bennett's fish shack who know our order and ask us where the kids are when we're there on a date. I'm going to miss how members of my choir called Josh to find out how I was doing when I had pneumonia. I'm going to miss the cashier at the movie theater offer me the standard popcorn/drink special and then look up at me and say, "Oh yeah, you hate Pepsi products, never mind." I'm going to miss telling people we live in the yellow house up Wishkah and having everyone immediately know which house is ours. I'm REALLY going to miss the small town newspaper with it's hysterical crime report. I'm going to miss how I always hear events by word of mouth before I read them in the news. I'm going to miss how fast gossip travels and how everyone seems to know everyone. I'm going to miss how sweet and protective everyone is with each other and the many, wonderful, tender hearted individuals that welcomed me into their circle-

Most of all, I'm going to miss the sweet friendship of some of the kindest people I've known. People who visited me in the hospital when I had my kidney infection, people who come over and watch the kids so I can pack, people who offer to take me on a hike I mention I want to go on but don't know the trail, people who made blankets for Ruby, people who threw me a baby shower, people who offered to watch Cooper when I had my doctor appointments, people who encourage, lift, motivate, and inspire me.

So while we may not have a Costco (or about a million other things), we do have some of the sweetest people in the world right here in Aberdeen, Plus all the trees.