34 Comments

As always Jan, an amusing, touching & uplifting story. Thanks for sharing.

I can relate. I grew up in Romeo, MI - a small farming town (pop. 3500) northeast of Detroit (at the base of the thumb✋️) known for it's apple & peach orchards ( my mouth waters when I think of the peach pies sold at the festival), fresh corn & the best tomatoes ever.

Each year over Labor Day weekend we had the Peach Festival with a carnival, craft fair & a Mummers parade as well as the big closing day parade. The big parade went right by our house & when I got to high school, I tried out & was selected to be a majorette(sp?). As we marched by my house, my Mom would yell out "get those knees high". So embarrassing then but funny now. 😅

Oh such fun memories.

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Hi Juliann ~ sounds like a great childhood. Great memories! Did I ever tell you my older daughter lives in Chelsea, Michigan. Talk about a great small town (with a lot of the bigger city perks because U of M is so close.)

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Love Chelsea. Used to go up there with my grandfather to visit his family. My very 1st attempt at fishing was with him at one of the lakes in the area. 💜

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That was fun. I lived in Sylvania Ohio - a smallish town west of Upper Sandusky - for maybe nine years and loved it.

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I always remember that you lived in Sylvania or Toledo. Please, remind me where you are now?

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I'm not sure that you got my response. We moved to California about 40 years ago and I live in Sunnyvale, which is about 45 miles south of San Francisco.

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I love the story about your city! I live south of Lima, in the Encantada de Villa, very close to the beach and behind a Wild Bird Reserve called Pantanos de Villa, it is a quiet and safe place to live and the best thing is that the school where I work is in this place.

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Your Pentanes de Villa sounds so beautiful. I'm glad you live in such a special place. How is school going?

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Everything is fine here, we are on winter vacation. Tomorrow we celebrate the anniversary of Peru.

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Have a great day tomorrow!!! xoxo

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Loved your story about your small town of Upper Sandusky - great name.. I lived in a large city and mostly only knew people from the suburb where I lived but not everyone. It must have been awesome to live in a place where everyone knew everyone. Thanks for sharing.

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Hi Teresa ~ yes, it's great knowing almost everyone. And now that I'm an old retired high school teacher, everybody thinks I'm an expert on things from 40 years ago. ha ha! I get the weirdest phone calls asking me questions -- but it's fun. Hey, I'm getting exciting about YOUR trip with Cathey. Isn't this social media fun for making new friends? xoxo

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Yes it is a great way of meeting new people. I am going to put a post up closer to my leaving date to see if anyone can meet me at Dallas-Fort Worth for an hour or 2 as I would love to meet some others and it will fill in some time while I wait for my flight to Spokane

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Jan, this is wonderful!!! I was born in Neosho Missouri, a small town then and it still is. They have a town square and a swimming hole East of town. It's in Southwest Missouri not far from the Arkansas line. But we moved to Nevada, Missouri when I was 3 or 4 and I started school there. We moved back to Joplin, Missouri when I was 5 or 6. I started school in the first grade then because they did not have kindergarten. First we attended a country school named Greenwood for the community around it. Then in 5th grade they closed that school and we were bussed into town. Joplin had about 40,000 people then. Not too big but not small and quiant either. I preferred the smaller towns. I liked how in Neosho everybody knew everyone else. The stores were smaller and we could walk the square in about 15 minutes. I felt safe there. Where we live now has a small town feel. It's comforting.

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Hi Marsha ~ my sister lives in a St Louis, Mo suburb -- O'Fallon. My nephew & his wife have a coffee shoppe right near the arch. I think my niece went to college in Joplin. Missouri is definitely the Show Me State -- I like to visit. You know how that old saying goes. You are right about knowing your neighbors being comforting. Good description. Thanks for sharing. xoxo

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Great story Jan.I lived in a small town most of my life where everyone knew everyone .Never locked a door,great neighbours always help around.Those were the days not the same anymore .Have a good day❤️

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One time my husband & I went on vacation forgot to put our garage door down. Neighbors put it down & put our Amazon packages inside too. Ha! Thankful for small towns. Xoxo

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What a great story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!! Love your writing!!

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Thanks, Irene! Appreciate you reading it. Xoxo

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Love the booklet! Oh, the small town life. There were 7 in my elementary class and we were the biggest class in the school. One tiny grocery store, post office, fire station, gas station and two bars. Talk about everybody knowing everybody! The dating pool was small, I must say. This was fun - thanks for sharing about Upper Sandusky! I still love that name.

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Thanks, Cathey! You made me laugh about the dating pool. I bet you were glad to go to college. When we moved to Upper, they bragged about their number of bars & churches. Now it's pizza places. ha ha! xoxo

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Love hearing and reading about Upper. I have lived in or near several "large" cities in my life, but Upper?... well, when I am asked, "Where is your home?" I always say, "Where I live is just where I live. Home is Upper Sandusky, Ohio."

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Hi Hook ~ yep, and you've never lost your nickname either. xoxo

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True, but it has required a lot of explaining! 😂

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You know I like the big city life but cherish the 35 years we lived in Upper Sandusky.

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Diane ~ I can definitely see the awesomeness of big city life. I think it would have been fun living in an apartment right downtown in NY when I was young. Misty's youngest is living in a Chicago suburb now. She's a corporate planner with The Gray hotel right in downtown Chicago. Haven't visited yet, but it's on my bucket list. Miss you! xoxo

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Spot on!

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Thanks for always supporting me, Vicki! xoxo

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I also was from a small town. Everybody knew everyone . I am proud to be from a small town. The school had about 200 students grades thru 1-12 . My class had 44 to graduate. We never locked doors. Oh the good ole days from a small town. Thank you for the reminder.

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Hi Susie ~ my graduating class had 130. We were huge compared to you. Ha! It was great knowing everyone. My mom said her class in Pittsburgh had more than 1000; she didn't even recognize the student standing beside her at graduation! We used to leave our keys in our cars & guys had rifles in the back of their trucks. Things have changed on that, however. Thanks for commenting! Have a great day! xoxo

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Sounds like my little town. Let's in car never took them out. Drove without licenses. Good ole days. Hope you have a good day.

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I also live in a small town of about 1100, and I am moving in four days to another small town, even smaller. And it has the best frozen yogurt/ice cream in this part of the state! And no, that is not why I am moving a half hour away to another small town, I Will be closer to my family, closer to work, and closer to an area. I lived in about 25 years ago. I like small town, living, if you don’t know who everybody, that’s great, but if you do, that’s OK too. The older I get, the worst, I hate to drive in congested areas where traffic is bumper-to-bumper. I like the back roads, seeing corn fields, oat fields, The red barns, sunflowers, windmills, and more.

Another great story Jan. Thanks for sharing. Blessings.

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Right - Toledo first and then Sylvania, which was my favorite. We moved to California in 1978 and live in Sunnyvale, which is south of San Francisco.

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Jul 27, 2023
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Morning, Susan! Yes, it is. But one time I had to laugh when the bank teller commented on my husband getting a raise. I guess they know what's in your bank account too. Ha! Have a great day today in small town America. xoxo

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