a couple of girl friends and i went to a jerrod niemman concert a while back. we all got his cd for free, and though i really like his music, i only listened to two songs on the cd. well, about a month ago, one of the girls and i were in the car going who knows where. she said, "have you listened to number fourteen? it's your song. i think of you every time i hear it." i hadn't heard it but quickly scanned ahead to number fourteen. about four words in she said, "oh, here it is! your line!"
"but man, i gotta warn ya
she's a city girl
with a little country charm"
she said, "see?! it's you. it's you and camden. you're that girl! you're so city, but you're so country. and it's charming."
i often get a lot of flack for how often i talk about my hometown (camden). my friends make fun of the way i idealize it and glamorize it. when i get off the phone with someone from home, they say, "your camden just came out." they don't understand how i can still be so close to so many people. they don't get why homecoming is still a big deal and why i still get emotional about state championships. they're not sure why i can remember football plays from big games throughout my high school years. they don't think the "bulldog walk" is cool, and they look at me like i'm trippin on something when i say "the hay is in the barn." they think it's silly that i call my high school girls "coyotes," and nobody thinks it's as big a deal as me that my dad just won county council. nobody, that is, but people from my dear, small town.
i love being from a small town. i love that we didn't have any large chain restaurants while i was growing up. i love that a big night out meant going to outback and target on two-notch road in east columbia. i love that people who grew up there return after college and settle down there. i love the azaleas in the spring. i love the christmas lights hung from the opera house clock tower at christmas. i love that i can hardly get out of first baptist or everyday gourmet or la fiesta when i'm home, because i stop to talk to so many people. i love sunday afternoon drives. i love that i can go anywhere, get what i need, and the person at the counter will say, "don't worry about it. i'll work it out with your dad." i love going to my dad's sporting goods store and loading up on t-shirts, sweat shirts, and anything else i find. i love that my grandfather is a legend, and that my dad's pretty much the same. i love that i can get pulled for speeding, and the officer will walk up to my car, realize that a. we went to high school together or b. that my dad is tom gardner, and says, "don't worry about it. get home safely, ashley." i love that i can pick up my phone and call any one of my childhood friends, and any of them would be there to help - no matter what. i love that people still take meals to each other, wave as they drive down the road, smile and speak when they pass in a store. i love that my youth pastor's opinion still means the world to me. i love that when i go home and get my hair done, i tell my hair lady about every little thing that's happened in my life since i've been gone. i love that the weekend of the cup is like a high school reunion. i love that you can drive out of downtown and five minutes later be in the country, barefoot, feeding baby goats out of bottles (don't judge me - i grew up doing this).
to me, camden will always be the quinessential small, southern town with narrow, maple-lined streets, old plantation homes, sweet tea on big, white porches, AAA high school football on friday nights, and sunday lunch after church. you see everybody you know at wal-mart on friday nights. you can tell who's coming up the drive by how loud their truck is. you spend summer days on the lake, and there's nowhere you'd rather be on the 4th of july than sittin at the wateree marina. forking yards was a skill, and barn parties and bonfires were a way of life. it was magic.
charmed life? you got it. don't get me wrong, i've dealt with some hard stuff in my (almost) twenty-five years. but i would absolutely wish my childhood and teenage years on anyone. there's something so special about a small town. and if you're not from a small town, well, i'm sorry, but you just don't get it.
that's why i took my girl friend's statement as a compliment. if being from a small town is part of what makes me special, i'm okay with that.
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