I Thought I'd Live in Centertown Forever

I grew up in a very small town, Centertown, KY.  My parents had a house built on the property bordering my grandparents farm.  I had a blessed childhood with horses, cows, tractors, and family.  I would walk to my grandma's house nearly every day and do anything she had going on.  I would "help" can vegetables, watch Wheel of Fortune, and basically follow her around talking non stop!  When grandaddy was outside working on the farm, I was right with him.  He'd let me drive the tractor and feed the cows and help with all of the every day farm tasks.  I always felt like the princess of the farm and I loved it!  As I got older I was supposed to have more responsibilities around the farm but if I felt like they were too much all I had to do was whine to grandaddy and get a reprieve!  You see, Grandaddy had two sons so when I came along as the first girl in the family my path was an easy one!

Mom always went to work at a crazy early hour.  She had to be at work for her 7am shift and it was a 45 minute drive away (at her speed! ha!) so she'd take me to grandma and granddaddy's house to catch the bus for school, only, I didn't like to ride the bus, so I would ask Grandma to take me.  Nearly every morning Grandma would take me to school and we'd stop by Grace's grocery store and get lunch and load up on candy and snacks!  One morning I over heard Grandaddy telling grandma that she really shouldn't spoil me so much, that she should make me ride the bus once in awhile.  Grandma, being the spitfire she always was said "fine then, you just tell her that she has to ride the bus."  He tried, I pouted, and he ended up driving me to school that morning.  I arrived at school shortly after stopping by Grace's to pick up the goodies I didn't need!  Poor Grandaddy!  Every once in awhile he'd try to flex his muscle but Grandma had a way of humbling you!  ha!

As I got older I would walk to grandma's house so she could take me driving.  She'd be sitting in her recliner, crocheting, and I'd walk in super quiet and scare her awake.  I loved scaring grandma!  She was such a good sport too, she never got mad or fussed, she'd just wake up and get to it.

When learning to parallel park Grandaddy set up buckets on the farm and let me try, over and over to fit grandma's car or his truck in between the buckets.  I hit them more than once but did eventually figure it out.

On weekends and during the summer grandma and grandaddy loved to ride around through all the farm land and back roads and tell me stories of what it was like when they were kids and the history of the land.  I spent hours and hours riding around with them doing that, those are some of my favorite memories.  Then, grandaddy got a four wheeler and we'd ride around on it.  We never abandoned are rides around in the truck we just added the four wheeler to the mix.  It was a past time I loved and shared with Grandma and Grandaddy and many of my friends.  Even now, when I go back to visit I ride around on those back roads, but they have changed so much it's just not the same.

I grew up thinking Centertown was perfect and that I'd live there forever.  I had great family, great friends, and I had it all figured out.  Centertown was a wonderful little town.  I grew up knowing everyone because my family had always been there and Grandma was very social.  Growing up knowing everyone and having everyone know you was a blessing and a curse, I always had help when I needed it but I couldn't get away with anything!  It probably saved me from a lot of bad decsions but it saddled me with a certain arrogance.  I felt indestructible growing up. 

Shortly after I graduated from high school I moved in with my best friend, Joy, and her brand new husband.  This was such a hard time for me and I feel so blessed that Joy was by my side through it.  There were a lot of difficult things going on in my life during this time (no seriously) but Joy, Keith, and Grandma stood by me through it. 

Keith and I got married in 1999 and our lives were still a little tumultuous so when the opportunity to move to Louisiana presented itself I jumped at the thought of leaving all of the trouble behind.  We moved to Louisiana, made a life there and the rest is history.  We've since left Louisiana and ended up in Indiana and I guess this is home now.  I don't ever see myself moving back to Centertown now and that's a hard pill to swallow because I thought I'd live there forever. 

I love my life now and I am very blessed but, I have to admit, it's not exactly like I thought it would be.  I thought I'd live in Centertown forever.