Life in Small Town USA - Part I I promised that I would give you a description of my life growing up in Small Town USA. To some, small town life could consist of a town of maybe around 3,000 or 4,000 people. But my small town is much, much smaller than that. As of today, the population of Milledgeville, TN is 306. Yes, you read it right..... 306. Growing up, I don't ever remember the population being over 400.....Everybody knows everybody.... and they know more about your business than you know about your own. You may call if Mayberry RFD ... but I believe our town is much smaller, or you may call us a village... what ever you call it... I call it GOD'S COUNTRY! A place where you can go out your back door, look up at the sky and see the stars...... Growing up in my town... there was a grocery store, which belonged to my family, a cotton gin and worm ranch, which belonged to my family, a road side cafe, which belonged to my best friend of 25 years family, a hardware store, 4 churches.... The Methodist, The Baptist, The Church ofChrist and The Pentescostal. We have a post office, a branch bank, and a 4 way stop with a flashing light... this only became in existence about 15 years ago... before was just a major crossroad. The house that I grew up in sat on the same lot as the cotton gin and the worm ranch was in the back yard. My Grandparents had lived in that house until I was about 2 years old, then they built a new one just right across town, we moved into the old house until I was about 12, when my parents built their house across the field from my Grandparents. After many renters and different things happening, I moved back into this house about 3 years ago. Yes, it's an old house, a house with character... my house... MY HOUSE that has been in MY family for decades! A house that my children will inherit and the rich blessings from it. Imagine a crisp fall morning....the smell of cotton being ginned. I can remember my Grandfather working from the crack of dawn to way past midnight. I can remember waking up, my Grandmother having a breakfast cooked... on the table would be fresh bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy, orange juice and milk. I can remember my Daddy going to open the store, wait for the employees to come in and off to his factory job he would go. He was a Supervisor in a Shoe Factory for 2o year, and my Mom helping my Papaw during the fall season at the scale house. Oh the scale house.... the scale house was a place where the farmers would bring their full cotton wagons to be weighed before pulling them to the gin. I can remember the lot being sooooo full of cotton wagons, that they would be backed up 3, 4, 5 or 6 deep. I can remember going outside to play with my younger brother and the neighbors kids, us climbing up and over the full cotton wagons and playing on the freshly picked cotton. I can remember my Grandmother screaming at us to get out of the wagons before we were sucked up with the cotton to be ginned. We would climb out... find another wagon and proceed to play.... We would also climb into the empty wagons and play. We would play for what seemed like forever, only to take the time out, because Mamaw said so... to eat.... It's not because we wanted to eat... but she made us! I can remember that because of the dangers that my Grandfather would NOT let us kids in the gin. He would, however, let me on the back dock so as to when the cotton bail came out of being pressed, he would take this HUGE knife and cut a sample, tag it, hand it to me to take to my Mother at the scale house. What she did with it, I do not know... but I didn't care... I was the"Sample Girl"... Picture this... an old blue 1950 or 1960 something farm truck, I don't remember if it was a Chevy or Ford or what...... Papaw had parked it under the scale house facing West. To this day, I don't remember why it was there... but it was... just calling my name.... I had taken a sample of cotton to Mother for her to do whatever she did and "Old Blue" started calling my name... Lee Ann.... Lee Ann... Lee Ann.... so what did I do.... Yep, went over and got behind the wheel of "Old Blue".... I don't remember how I got it started, but I did... put the thing in gear and head West straight for the HUGE... and when I say HUGE... I mean HUGE Cherry Tree in the yard. I was laughing like I had just done something FUN... or so I thought... I remember Papaw running after me and the truck... yes me and Old Blue hit the Cherry Tree... not really hard... but enough that is really scared Papaw. He was so glad that I wasn't hurt...and Mother was too.... my butt, or maybe pride, that day was hurt much worse than the Cherry Tree. The tree still stands today and so do I. Oh the days of living in my small town.... Those were the days when you could go on a family vacation, leave the doors open and the windows up.... the only fear of leaving the windows up would be that it would rain and your house get wet. Those days are SO LONG GONE! Today, we have to deal with unnecessary and senseless things... schools shootings, child abductions, drug abuse, parents who leave there babies in garbage cans..... I could go on and on... but you get the picture.... My heart and prayers go out the families of the girls that were killed yesterday in Pennsylvania. May God be with each and every member of that village. And finally!!!!! I knew you would do it Bond baby... I just knew it!!!! Didn't I tell you that everything would work out? I think I will try and go today, buy a book for you on "How to speak Southern"... LMOO... I loves ya baby! HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!!!! Can't wait for you to get down here among us! Tomorrow... maybe more description of life in Small Town USA..... Hugs, Gropes & Smooches!!! Lee Ann