The Joy of Small Town Life
Embracing the little things.
When my wife and I decided to move close to the place she grew up in the midst of the Iron Range, I didn’t really know what to expect. I hadn't lived in a #smalltown since I was a kid growing up in a wonderful place we called “Willow Farm.” Although I had fond #memories of these 4 years (from ages 8-12),
I was a bit nervous about the change in pace and honestly the lack of awesome restaurants on every corner like I was used too.
One of my first days in Gilbert (population 961) I stopped at the local gas station a few miles from our home to grab a cup of coffee. I asked the owner if they had any real creamer as they only had the powdered variety, which I can’t stand. She said they didn’t but then told me if I bought one of the creamers in the fridge, she would put my name of it and save it for me to use each time I came in—which I did.
The second thing I noticed was when our mail carrier left a postcard in our mailbox welcoming us to the neighborhood and giving us a complete layout of all her family members, their names, their stories and other small details. I found it strange at first, and then endearing.
The local UPS guy lets us come in early to get our packages, the local diner knows us by name when we walk through the door, my next door neighbor insists on plowing out my driveway each time it snows, my other neighbor skates over to make sure our man made rink is free of snow and every time I drive by the local rink I see lights on and kids playing #hockey with wild abandon. Even our local bank doesn’t ask our names when we drop off our mortgage payment. It just magically gets deposited in the right place!
It is so much more than I imagined it would be and yet I have embraced the quiet pace of each of our days.
It's still hard to not be able to go to whatever restaurant I choose, but that too has been a blessing in disguise as I’ve lost 20 pounds and cut my blood sugar in half.
As far as work goes, I’m fortunate to be able to do most of my sales within 60 miles of where I live. My work has changed too, as the pace is more deliberate and thoughtful. On a recent week in mid February we had a cold snap of -30 degrees for several days and that was one of my best weeks in many years. Merchants welcomed us in from the cold, took time to get to know who we are, and for the most part we're open to having discussions about their accounts.
I’ve learned that the clients on the range just want someone that they can count on to handle their business. They are wary of strangers from far away. They expect you to pick up the phone when you call, return their call when you can’t, tell them the truth and show up when you say you will. They don’t care about the latest technology, how you dress, or where you live.
Just give them a fair shake, own up to your mistakes and be truthful every step of the way and they will give you the shirt off their back in exchange.
I have never been more content in my 50 plus years of roaming this earth and am so thankful to have found a little corner of the world to establish our roots and adventure our way towards the future.
