Oh For The Life of Small Town USA

Yesterday our quaint little town, the town where crime is swept under the carpet, barely a word is heard, was shook to its knees. Many of you may have seen it on the news, and since this is a family friendly blog, I will only provide a link to the news story should you want to read more about what happened.

Selena and I had to go to Olympia for her doctor’s appointment, this event happened at 12:10, we were just loading in our car at 12:20. As I turned on the car the radio announced what had just taken place. I was going to be heading in that direction to get gas before heading on to Olympia. As we drove through the streets, it was very obvious that businesses had locked their doors, and the police were talking to anyone they could find. I chose to wait until I got to Olympia to get my gas, and only stopped briefly to call Papa to tell him what had just happened.

It was very strange on the way home to actually be hearing what was going on in our small town and realizing it was all unraveling right within my neighborhood, not far from my home. I decided I was not going to get Selena’s prescription filled, since going that direction would mean we would not get home, and I wasn’t even sure if the pharmacy would be open. Just as we reached the school kiddy corner from our home, a police officer jumped out of the school parking lot and flagged me to stop. I could see right at the corner of our property a police car blocking the lane of the road heading into town. Would I be allowed to go around him and go home?

I had to answer numerous questions from both the officer who appeared out of the school parking lot, and the officer at the car before they would let me go around and proceed to my driveway. Once home we locked all the doors, and turned on the radio to listen to the news. I by the way turned the TV on to distract Selena.

As a spokesperson stated in the news briefing, this event does not only affect those injured, but it does affect the entire community. Living here where we do, means everyone knows everyone, we hurt when things go bad, we feel just as scared, and violated as if it happened to us or in our own home. Something about living in a small town is it is your home, the entire community, the entire town, every shop owner, every police officer, attorney, judge, or person who walks and drives the street is your neighbor, your friend, your family. We sometimes forget that just because we live in a small town does not make us immune to the realities of the world, it isn’t until something like this happens before we realize that we too have to be just as aware of our surroundings like anybody else.

I will say this it was at this point though that I truly was never more thankful that Selena was with me, and not in lockdown at the public school. I was glad I could answer her questions and concerns, that I was the one who could hold her and calm her fears as she realized something was truly wrong when we had such a hard time getting home. For those who think we as homeschoolers shield our children from the world, let me tell you that truly is not the case, the world still spins around us. Our children see way more then those in the schools, they are not protected by the walls and the locked doors during such an event. They do have one thing though, the security that comes from knowing that they are with their family, with lots of love, hugs, and as many answers as we can give.