I grew up in a small town. Well, technically, I grew up west of a small town. About 20 minutes out of town, but we did everything in the town. It seemed like the thing to do. When we moved there, the town had a population of about 3800 and had grown to about 7400 when I finally left in 1994. Now, the area that I lived in was the ‘county’, it actually had a decrease in population (maybe I’m counted in that decrease!) It went from 22989 in 1979 to 22550 in 1992. That information doesn’t matter, I just found it interesting.

Anyway, there was space, safety, and a sense of community. You knew your neighbours, people felt safe letting your kids outside to play. While we took the yellow school bus to and from school, lots of kids walked home and no one worried about stranger danger. When I was in third or fourth grade, in the nearest big city, a young girl went missing while walking home from school for lunch. She vanished without a trace. She has never been found and no clues were ever found. After that, small town people were a little more thankful as all believed that would never happen in a small town like ours. We didn’t have lots of pollution as we didn’t have the traffic, our town had one traffic light when I was a kid! When we got the second set, it was a big deal. Small town life, everyone wanted it.

As I grew up, it had its disadvantages. We didn’t have a lot of things to do. Not a lot of extra curricular activities or sports. We’d have to go to the next town or the city for that, which we did not do. Our schools didn’t have a lot of the options bigger schools would have. We didn’t have a movie theatre (nor a McDonald’s). I actually don’t remember what we had for ‘fast food’ establishments? I remember the KFC, but I think I was a little older when it opened. We had a “SAAN” store for clothes and “The Robinson’s” department store. Three groceries stores, but I think the “Safeway” opened when I was a little older too as I don’t think it was open when we first moved there as it opened in the newer part of town too.

It was a cute little town just far enough out of the city to still be a reasonable commute for people but far enough that parents were not going to drive kids for regular activities or a weekend entertainment.

And that’s where trouble begins for teenagers… Becoming a teenager in a ‘small town’, especially when you are not especially studious is a trying time. I wasn’t really wrapped up in my books. If I had been, I probably would have been much further ahead and would not have found half the trouble I did.

This is probably the point my parents should stop reading. 😉 Consider yourself warned.

Now, there are essentially three things teenagers in a small town (or just west of a small town) can do. Read the bible, pray, and find fellowship. Good wholesome activities. Just kidding! It just seems odd to say “drink, drugs, and sex” when I know my Mom and Dad are reading this. They’d never believe I found Jesus, but they might need to if I really got into the nitty gritty of what my sister and I really got up to, so I’m going to just give them the Cole’s notes of our misadventures.

Now, I’ll start off by saying I did not do drugs. I tried once and got violently sick. I learned early the leafy green was not for me. I did however like beer and rye. A lot. Rye was delicious and I spent a lot of Friday nights down at my friend’s cabin playing cards and drinking copious amounts of rye. There was other fun had as well later at night. Good times, but not really good things for building a young girl up.

This was a rinse and repeat throughout high school. There were many occasions where we’d end up at The Flats partying with groups of people or other bush parties (large parties, as the name implies) in the bush somewhere, or on some dead-end road drinking and listening to music.

All around me, there was a culture of random hook-ups, misuse of substances, and a general disregard for self. It was the culture of the community. I was embroiled in it; I was part of it. I wanted out of it. But I knew nothing else. I was not successful academically and couldn’t be. I knew I would graduate and really didn’t have a hope of succeeding where I was. It just was not a place I could be successful. But I did learn something.

I needed out and I would not raise a family in a place like this. While I loved the idea of space, fresh air, the sense of safety, community, and freedom, there was too many negatives I wouldn’t want to associate with. Perhaps they were only my associations, but I could not disassociate from these ideals.

In 1994, I moved to the city. While it was only 40 minutes away, it seemed many more. It isn’t where I grew up, and I’ve been in my house for twenty years. I have a community where I live, I know my neighbours, and. I raised my family here, and most importantly, we feel safe.