If you know me - you know this fact - I WAS BORN IN A SMALL TOWN!!!
I believe there were less than 300 people in Olivet, IL when I arrived at the age of 4 with my Mom, a new Stepdad and various step and half siblings, with more to arrive . . .
The Carter Clan: r & back)Mom; Lisa; Joe; Janetta; Janice; Daddy Jim; middle) Me; bottom row: Johnnie; Troy; Susan
If I had to choose an anthem for my teen years - it would be this song. So many of the lines screamed out from my soul . . . there were a few lines that I 'wished' were true . . . here are some random thoughts and memories which bubble up every time I hear John crooning . . .
Lyrics are copyrighted by Mellencamp www.johnmellencamp.com
"Small Town"
Written by John Mellencamp
Well I was born in a small town
My job is so small town my first job was at Burger Chef, Danville, IL
Provides little opportunity perhaps one of the reasons I ran away at 18?
Image of a similar Burger Chef from the '70's
Educated in a small town attended Pine Crest Elementary (Georgetown), First Baptist Christian School (Danville), Hope Christian School (Danville); but where I really learned the MOST and glimpsed the wider world was in the boundless walls and bookshelves of the Carnegie Library just down Route 1 in Ridge Farm, IL.
But I've seen it all in a small town
Notre Dame de La Salette Boys Academy - across the highway from my Mom's house, Olivet/Georgetown, IL
Used to daydream in that small town reading about worlds far away
Another boring romantic that's me how many Barbara Cartland's can one girl read?? . . . then my brother's threw one of those paperbacks out the back window of the Olive Green/Panel Country Squire Station Wagon on vacation . . . "Bye, Bye Bawbwa Cawtlan!"
No I cannot forget from where it is that I come from
Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
Oh that's probably where they'll bury me well, I will be cremated and submerged in Copper Canyon, along the Colorado River, near Lake Havasu . . . but you get the idea. I love to visit the graveyards where my Grandpa and step-dad lay . . . those graveyards are some of the places where my heart has been completely broken, and yet I felt close to those of us left behind.
Torpedo as Mailbox? - Olivet, IL 2009
My daughter Lauren, age 15, at Forest Glen Park, Georgetown IL, May 2009
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town what I loved were the people in the church and the hymn worship services. My favorite hymn is "It Is Well With My Soul" . . . my Daddy Jim's funeral was in this very auditorium which occurred just before the interior was burned in a fire . . . from ages 4 to 18, I attended with my family and we filled an entire pew . . .
Read More The Carter Clan: r & back)Mom; Lisa; Joe; Janetta; Janice; Daddy Jim; middle) Me; bottom row: Johnnie; Troy; Susan
If I had to choose an anthem for my teen years - it would be this song. So many of the lines screamed out from my soul . . . there were a few lines that I 'wished' were true . . . here are some random thoughts and memories which bubble up every time I hear John crooning . . .
Lyrics are copyrighted by Mellencamp www.johnmellencamp.com
"Small Town"
Written by John Mellencamp
Well I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Probably die in a small town
Oh those small communities
All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
Image of a similar Burger Chef from the '70's
Educated in a small town attended Pine Crest Elementary (Georgetown), First Baptist Christian School (Danville), Hope Christian School (Danville); but where I really learned the MOST and glimpsed the wider world was in the boundless walls and bookshelves of the Carnegie Library just down Route 1 in Ridge Farm, IL.
But I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll this would be married a Jersey boy and brought him to this small town
now my kids are small town, just like me
Notre Dame de La Salette Boys Academy - across the highway from my Mom's house, Olivet/Georgetown, IL
Used to daydream in that small town reading about worlds far away
Another boring romantic that's me how many Barbara Cartland's can one girl read?? . . . then my brother's threw one of those paperbacks out the back window of the Olive Green/Panel Country Squire Station Wagon on vacation . . . "Bye, Bye Bawbwa Cawtlan!"
No I cannot forget from where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me from the Sunday gatherings at Grandpa's farm . . . to the church families . . . and the immediate family of siblings and nieces and nephews . . .
Yeah I can be myself here in this small town well, I didn't feel I could be myself
And people let me be just what I want to be and I always felt I was expected to conform to Fundamental Baptist rules - I couldn't be what I wanted to be - but I figured that out later on . . .
Got nothing against a big town I feel just as comfortable in NYC, in fact!
Still hayseed enough to say
Look who's in the big town
But my bed is in a small town
Oh, and that's good enough for me
Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
Oh that's probably where they'll bury me well, I will be cremated and submerged in Copper Canyon, along the Colorado River, near Lake Havasu . . . but you get the idea. I love to visit the graveyards where my Grandpa and step-dad lay . . . those graveyards are some of the places where my heart has been completely broken, and yet I felt close to those of us left behind.
Torpedo as Mailbox? - Olivet, IL 2009
My daughter Lauren, age 15, at Forest Glen Park, Georgetown IL, May 2009
Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town what I loved were the people in the church and the hymn worship services. My favorite hymn is "It Is Well With My Soul" . . . my Daddy Jim's funeral was in this very auditorium which occurred just before the interior was burned in a fire . . . from ages 4 to 18, I attended with my family and we filled an entire pew . . .