This Town of Mine

I have never lived in a town to which I felt personally connected. I grew up in a small town in South Carolina. Seneca was just large enough that I did not know everyone and just small enough that I was constantly bored. Then we moved to a new town in Georgia. Cumming is cramped, congested and kind of a 'wannabe' trendy area. It irritates me and again, I know next to no one.

This weekend I came to realize that this town where I go to school, though it is a college town, is a town that I have come to love and to feel connected. Community is a big deal here. Everyone knows everyone else. Professors invite you over dinner and you run into your advisor's five year old child as you leave your 8 AM class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That child knows your name. I realize I'm starting to sound like the theme song to Cheers but seriously, it is a beautiful realization.

Saturday I submitted an article to the school newspaper. It was all about community and the discontents of communities. It was lovely to write and ponder the innerworkings of a community of people of varoius ages and social understandings. When Sunday came along, though I had a lot of work to do, I could not find it in myself to feel anxious or upset about anything.

Sunday night, five minutes after posting a birthday wish to a friend of mine, I ran into him at the library where I was able to actually give him a birthday hug and wishes (only in Sewanee).

This morning, I went to my favorite coffee shop, where all my friends work. My friend, Tim, let me smell the coffee beans so I could pick out which kind of coffee I wanted (I know that wouldn't happen at a Starbucks in downtown Atlanta). Everyone knows everyone, everyone helps everyone, and everyone enables everyone else's learning experiences. I'm glad to call Sewanee my home. It saddens me that I will have to leave this place in less than six months. But for now, I will enjoy it. Thanks Sewanee, you're the best. :)