Can't Take the Small Town Out of the Girl

I was thinking about how to end this blog.  This song, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" by Jennifer Nettles and Bon Jovi sums it up perfectly.  I spent the past 18 years of my life trying to leave my small town.  I felt suffocated and wanted to go out and meet the rest of the world.  I wanted to explore, to find a new lifestyle, to be on my own!  But the past year has shown me that as far away as I can get from my small town, I have noticed that I take it with me whereever I go.

I have noticed that regardless of where I am, I will always be a small town girl.  Countless times, I have had to go back upstairs because I forgot to lock my door.  I have walked right into my friends rooms without remembering that the polite thing to do is knock (of course, this has only happened to my closest friends though!).  Instead of wishing I had some Oragel, I have found myself wishing I had a shot of whiskey to numb my tooth.  I have had many conversations with my friends here where I realized the things I do, the words I say, the beliefs I have aren't shared universally. 

I have realized that living in a small town has been integral to my person.  I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for where I grew up.  I love going to the mall and dressing up, but I also love getting dirty on the quads or heading out for shooting practice.  Lilly is a part of who I am.  And no one can take that away from me.

I hope those reading this blog have been able to see how special small towns are.  I hope that they have been able to fall in love with my small town as deeply as I have.  It may be different, it may be uncanny, but it is pure.  I enjoy being in State College, but I can't wait to go back to Lilly in the summer.

School Family

When I went home this weekend for Easter, I ran into a couple friends from high school.  We chatted for a while, catching up since we havent seen each other since graduation.  We asked each other what we knew of other people from our class, exchanging such gossip for a good hour.  It made me realize how close my graduating class was.  I'm not so sure that places outside of a small town can be that way.

My entire graduating class

I am positive that everyone has had close friends in high school.  You hung out and spent a lot of time with this group of people.  But depending on the size of your graduating class, you might not have been so close with everyone in the class.  I can't imagine graduating with thousands of people, like some of my friends have told me.  You could not possibly get to know the whole group on a personal level.  I graduated with 136 people.  I can still name every one of the people.  I can tell you their parents, their friends, where they lived, and even more.  No, I wasn't a creeper.  But I spent 13 years with them.  I had classes with all of them.  I had field trips with all of them.  I rode the bus with all of them.  I KNEW them all.



Joey (middle; standing) with his graduating class



Schools all around my house were just as small.  My friend Josh graduated with 180.  My friend Marissa graduated with 110.   My cousin Joey's class was even smaller; he graduated with 66 people.  Before graduation, Joey and I talked about how close we were to our class, and how sad it was that we were leaving them all.  We also were kind of scared for heading off to college.  We grew up with the same 136 (or 66 for him) people.  It has always been the same people with the same atmosphere.  I do miss that camaraderie.  But Penn State has shown me that stepping out of your comfort zone isn't so bad.  Thrown into a situation where I was no longer with all people that I knew, I have learned a lot about networking.  It's a new experience to have to start over making new friends.  While I miss the closeness of Penn Cambria, Penn State is definitely preparing me for the working world.  The world is much bigger than a small town, and I am more than ready to expand!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

As I came into my town earlier this evening, I noticed things were different from the last time I travelled home.  The sights, the smells, the decorations only confirmed one thing to me:  Easter is here!  I don't know about other places, but in Lilly, Christian holidays are a big deal.  Christmas and Easter are the biggest holidays around.  It is such a community event, and we have a rough schedule that we follow every year!

First of all, my high school never had a spring break.  Ever.  It sucked.  But what we did have was Good Friday and Easter Monday off.  (For people who don't know, that is the Friday before and Monday after Easter).  So it's as close to a spring break as we can get. 

Good Friday is important.  It is the day that Christ died.  From 12-3, it is known as the Hours of Agony-- the three hours that he spent on the cross until he died.  I don't mean to give a religion lesson, but I had to explain this because in Lilly, everything closes for those 3 hours.  The bank, the post office, the corner store, the hardware store, EVERYWHERE.  I am not saying that all of the towns around us do the same thing, but for the most part, a lot of places do close.  During that time, there is mass at my church (and I assume at the other churches in my town.  It is hard for me to say though, because I am Catholic, and the other churches are Lutheran, Methodist, etc). 

Trey, at the egg hunt in my yard

Saturday is a fun day.  We take the kids to egg hunt after egg hunt.  The church, the fire hall, my aunt's church, a couple of the bars (yes, in my town, the bars get involved); all of these places hold egg hunts on their properties.  I remember having so much fun at these events.  Likewise, when we take my nephews to them now, they are ecstatic about finding the eggs.  After all of this fun, we head up to my grandmother's house to color eggs. 

Sunday is Easter.  We wake up and run downstairs to find that the Easter bunny yet again stopped at our house and left us baskets.  Of course, we are all old enough now to know it is our parents, but seeing the excitement on my nephews' faces is priceless.  We eat a breakfast of candy, more candy, some cereal, with a dessert of candy.  All sugared up, we go to church at 8 oclock.  For this mass, we all dress up moreso than usual.  Typically, my sisters and I wear our Easter dresses and the males wear a full suit.  Once the mass is over, we head to my grandmothers, where we get yet another basket, and have a little egg hunt through her house for the children.

Troy, at my grandmother's house

Easter dinner is one of my favorites.  Ham, yams, potatoes, harutka (don't know how to spell that.  It's an egg-like food from my slovak side), deviled eggs, and miscellaneous other sides await me at the table. I eat as much at Easter as I do at Thanksgiving.  I regret it later on, when my stomach is about to burst, but in the moment everything is so good!

I am sure that many other towns, big or small, have similar events for Easter.  I enjoy it at home, though, because the sense of community and togetherness permeates the whole holiday.  At egg hunts you see people you haven't seen in a while.  You find out people had children over the past year.  You catch up on everything.  At church people who don't usually come every Sunday  decide to join in the celebration for Easter.  Everyone dresses up nicer than usual.  It is nice to see everyone put forth such a great effort for this occasion.  I am sure similar experiences exist, but I can only hope that other people enjoy Easter as much as I do!