Community

I've lived in central Arkansas now for over 10 years, and in that time I've worked hard to find a community in the places that I've lived.  I still don't think a lot of people truly understand what it means to be a part of a community, but where I grew up, it meant you had a history with the people who lived in your town.  You had personal relationships with each other:  friendships, marriages, school, church and family.  All interconnected and intertwined by one common denominator.  We lived in McGehee.

This week a former coach and teacher of mine passed away and when I heard the news, long forgotten memories of softball and 9th grade PE came rushing back like a flood.   We called her "Tuck" and she spent her life in service to the kids of McGehee.  From the time I remember playing little league softball, Tuck was the umpire, and I held on with bated breath for her strike and ball calls.  I can even remember when we would do something funny, she'd drop her head and laugh.  We played for one month in the summer, and she called every single ball game for both the little and big girls teams.   I truly don't remember a time when she wasn't behind the plate.

In junior high, I wasn't the most athletic, but that didn't keep her from trying to make an athlete out of all of us.  I remember playing basketball and running around the track in the middle of the day.  It was torture, but there was no slacking off.  I had to finish - even if I was dragging up the rear.  She also taught health class, and I remember sitting in a classroom with all the other 9th grade girls learning about the birds and the bees.  She had this no-nonsense type of attitude that I still remember to this day.  She also coached basketball and cheerleading, but I was involved in other activities and didn't get the joy of her yelling "Do it again" like my sister did during cheerleading practice.

After reading her obituary this week, I realized there was a lot that she accomplished in the last 15 years since I've left McGehee.  She was the elementary school principal, taught drivers education, raised two great kids, and served her church faithfully for many years.  I read posts on Facebook about her organizing vacation bible schools and teaching Sunday School for years.  In a world today where it's so easy for working moms to say no, she said yes.  That is servant leadership at it's core, and it's how we all should strive to live.

I wonder if any of my former classmates who have moved off have the same longing and desire to find a sense of belonging that mirror's that of McGehee?  I suppose it's a rose-colored-glasses sort of memory when we were happy, didn't have any worries, and all of our loved ones were still alive.  I know I can never go back, but I miss the slower pace and the slower traffic.  I miss going to Friday night football games and seeing the entire town.  I miss going out to eat and knowing almost everyone in the room.  There was a time where I was anxious to get away from it, but now that I'm older, I long to get back to that place.

So as I think about my hometown community, I pray that God will continue to bless that small town in southeast Arkansas.  They've had ups and downs, but through the years we've learned that it's not always about where you're going, but where your from.