Living in a small town comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Coming from a small town myself I relate to the love-hate relationship we all have with growing up in a small town.

One of the advantages of growing up in a small town is meeting someone in a small town isn't just a quick handshake and a smile, it starts with a handshake and normally ends in being asked to borrow your pick up or help to load something heavy. Knowing everyone and their dog can be a disadvantage as well as a blessing. People always know what's going on in your life before you even realize what's going on yourself. Especially as a kid growing up in a small town, you most likely were already in trouble with your parents before you got home from school in the afternoon when you thought you were being "sneaky". It doesn't matter how bad you hate people being in your business it's going to happen. Even though knowing everyone has its disadvantages, it also has the most important thing about growing up in a small town. It gives you that "family" feeling with everyone you know. Everybody is always there when you are in need and shows that you care.

Another love-hate relationship you have growing up in a small town is that there is never anything to do but yet you have all the freedom in the world. From learning to drive and taking your parents car on a joyride before you were old enough to get a license and getting pulled over, praying the cop would write you a ticket instead of calling your parents and of course getting caught skipping school with all your buddies to go fishing or hunting, like I used to regularly do.

But yet every one of us that grew up in a small town always says there is nothing to do and growing up there is boring as all get out. We really take it for advantage and complain about until we move off and we miss every part of our small hometown.

Growing up in a small town will always have that love-hate relationship, but at heart will be our favorite, filled with irreplaceable memories of a lifetime. I guess growing up in a small town wasn't too bad after all, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.