Small Town Love

I’ve lived in West Point since 2006, but in 2019 I gained a deep appreciation and connection with many of it’s residents when I ran for city council. So many shared with me that they loved the small town feel and were saddened by the growth and not knowing everyone. From my perspective as our community and state grows and changes, not everyone goes to the same church and have other varying differences like work schedules this keeps them from knowing each other.

The answer, in my opinion, is simple. Get out and meet your neighbors. I’ve met many of them and overall I think we have more in common with each other versus our differences. There are so many benefits of knowing your neighbors. You don’t have to be besties. But knowing their name, exchanging phone numbers, chatting over the fence or shoveling snow - it changes them from a stranger “I am not sure about that person” to an acquaintance/friend category or somewhere in there. When this happens and you’re out of town and your sprinkler fails and is blowing 30 feet high in the air your neighbor can text you and let you know maybe even go turn off the water for you. That really did happen. You have probably heard people share these kinds of experiences with neighbors, and maybe you have experienced a kind neighbor or two.

I’ve committed to get back out and knock on my neighbors’ doors and introduce myself and extend a hand of friendship, leave my phone number, and just try to connect. While my conclusion to the small town feel requires a bit of work, I challenge you to give it a try. You don’t need to bring them anything but a smile and hand of friendship. Go knock and officially introduce yourself - have a bit of small talk and watch your neighborhood (and yourself) transform before your eyes.