Small Town Support

In my book, "To See a Sundog," I begin with the line: "The town of Sawhill, Missouri is like a mobile that gently swings back and forth, and on most days it swings in harmony, but when one side of the mobile tips and bends, the whole town tips and bends with it." Further in the book, I talk about the help everyone gives to each other in small towns especially in times of crisis, i.e. the time one of the town's well know farmers brakes his back, and the rest of the men around Sawhill bring in his crops after their own crops are harvested. (A lot of work!) Saturday night, I had the occasion to experience this kind of small town help and support for a young man from my husband's small town of Colfax, Illinois who has cancer, without insurance, where 200 plus of the town's people came together for a fund-raising effort and raised over $15,000.00. My husband and I attended and saw just about everyone we knew in Colfax, from the youngest to oldest. Food was donated and served; a band played without cost; a bake-sale ensued (I actually baked a cherry pie), 20 donated, filled baskets were auctioned in a silent auction, and there was also a live auction of about 50 items, all donated. Everyone was having a great time, and always surprising to me (a city girl), everyone knew everyone!!! I know that small town America is not for everyone, but the interconnection of lives lived, laughed, succeeded and struggled together is one of the biggest rewards of this way of life. It has been my privilege to be part of it in a small way.