I realize that growing up in a small town provides a different perspective of life, at least a vastly different experience than growing up in large cities.
Photo by Larry D. Moore
I grew up in a small town outside of what is the fourth largest metroplex in the United States Of America, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. I grew up West of Fort Worth in the quaint town of Willow Park. Chances are you are unfamiliar with Willow Park yet you may have heard of Aledo, TX if you are fan of High School sports, especially Football. Feel free to search Aledo Bearcats sometime, you may find it interesting. The local newspaper is "The Community News" who I have found to be made of honest, good people.
Willow Park is North of Aledo if you go under the overpass of I-20 from Aledo you wander into my hometown. Willow Park had a post office built sometime in the past ten years and uses the zip code of Weatherford, Texas. Willow Park's population in 2020 was only 6,330. Needless to say, it is a small, quaint, little town. I have not resided there since 2003, I have been spending my time since experiencing the world. Do not misunderstand me, I am not speaking poorly of any of the places I have mentioned or any I am mentioning in this particular post. I will say I prefer not to spend much time in the Texas cities West of Fort Worth. I say this because I find it interesting how many people that grow up in this town with anger due to past events yet return. That is not me, I have no intention of returning.
When you grow up in a small town it is not unusual to cross paths with old friends when stopping at one of the local businesses. If you are in cities with larger populations such as Arlington (400,316), Fort Worth (942,323), Austin (2,053,000), San Antonio (2,320,000 ), Dallas (6,301,000), Houston (7,100,000), even Corpus Christi (347,000) the chance is significantly lower, capisce?
Photo Texas Monthly
After Texas was hit with a freeze not long ago my parents' water pipes' were damaged which led to holes being cut into the walls so various repairs could be made, a new water well being installed after many, MANY decades of maintenance and usage. Thankfully a family friend taught me how to repair sheetrock after high school so I refused to allow my parents' to hire someone or pay anyone for sheetrock repairs. I took time off for Saint Patrick's Day and celebrated by happily helping my parents' recover from the freeze. While I was in town I visited my sister, Jen, at the Bearcat Den. While there I saw some friends that I had not seen in many years. The lady who runs this business is a woman whom I was in the same first grade class with. I will just say that was in the earliest 90's. That very thought blew my mind! How time not only passes quickly but stops for no human!
While running errands to knock out these needed repairs my sister calls me requesting food. Me being the good baby brother I am "flip a bitch!" to scoop up some tacos to deliver to my wonderful older sister. If you don't know what "flip a bitch!" means, it means I hastily performed a U-turn. Upon delivery of these crispy tacos to my sister I see an old friend who I had lost touch with in 2013 and have missed dearly. He introduced me to his wife while we shared a quick "hello" as I needed to get back to the folks' house to make progress on the repairs. I only have a few days off work, must complete the needed tasks. This gentleman I have also known since grade school. He and I grew up with mutual friends, trading super hero collector cards, reading comics, playing Super Nintendo and/or Sega Genesis, visiting Scarborough Faire, Six Flags, meeting first girlfriends, go-karting at his parents' home, even backyard wrestling...the list goes on and on. How often does that happen in someone's lifetime?
Forrest, Danyon and I - January 2007
Our time was cut short due to the adult life that time has created for us, we both had responsibilities to maintain. I swing by Jen's home to pick up her rebellious son, the middle of the three sons. I haven't experienced the difficulties with my nephews that literally everyone else claims, I'd like it to stay that way. Her middle son, Jacob joins me as we begin measuring and cutting sheetrock. We have four locations to repair, one of which is the height of a human. This spot also requires us to replace the insulation, this was the first time I have ever heard of an insulation batt. I also would like to point out that I am not a fan of fiberglass insulation touching the flesh. Needless to say, I want to make sure this is done properly for my parents.
The time for a later lunch in the day rolls around. Being in the small town I stumble upon a gentleman who I have wanted to catch up with after decades of life, Ray. One of the great things about this is that Ray and I are two people that grew up in the community of Willow Park and Aledo who the adults never thought would be able to achieve anything in our lives yet both of us are doing very well. He and I both were outcasts growing up in this community, ostracized. "What do you mean Scooby?", "Why would anyone in a small town be ostracized?" you might ask. I will be happy to elaborate for you.
In small communities such as Aledo, it is not uncommon to be consistently involved with the same families that you grow up with. People find that they spend more time around each other than in larger cities because there is less people moving out, there is also a smaller ratio of people and much less inhabited locations. Small businesses that are commonly ran by locals who stayed or have moved back after some time away. Often times these businesses have been run by the same family for generations, these generations continue and this develops what I like to call "old blood". I consider old blood to be the descendants of the families that developed these smaller cities. Commonly the bloodline of the families who owned the agricultural in the area. They held large portions of land for the livestock to graze, while selling land off parts to become small neighborhoods or businesses areas. Many of which have references to the last names of the families whose land was invested on some sort of sign found nearby such as "Dean" or "McDavid".
Not all of the people growing up there when it was even smaller than it is now came from such families. More often than not the ones that were more easily accepted into these "welcoming", tight circles of friendship had deep pockets. If one didn't have or act as if they had deep pockets they had to provide beneficial services to the community in some way. Whether that be business, community service or athletic promotion, if not you became a joke to them. These are the people who were scoffed at and targeted in some manner. I was one of those people.
Thinking for yourself was deemed mostly unacceptable in the educational facilities. You must do things in the order they taught, much like an algebraic equation. I will hold back from leaping upon the mighty bandwagon that so many are well known for in the many ways people reach out to other people's minds these days. That subject leads me to a tangent 100% of the time, let us make that 99.7% as of now. I digress! Learning things in the sacred Aledo proprietary order will not only make you great in the society of Aledo but also at playing high school and college sports. Let's not forget that the indoctrination will also improve scores on state test which in turn increases the income to the independent school system. This will also help a student find it easier to get into a college of their choice. That makes it mutually beneficial, doesn't it? It's all for the children, they promise.
These things are debatable. Funny enough Ray's sister is my sister's age so I met Ray through his older sibling's friendship with my older sibling. I remember running into Ray when I was around thirteen years of age at the local grocery store...
Willow Park History Tangent:
Back then there was a grocery store called "Thrift Mart", no bullshit. Thrift Mart became H.E.B. which eventually became the Brookshire's it is today. Brookshire's took over the spot of Winn Dixie, which was on the other side of Interstate 20, moving from its original location once Winn Dixie's business failed or moved to another city. Yeah, that's the backstory to the local grocery store of Willow Park, Texas. There also once was a "Fast'N'Fair" on the corner kiddos.
Needless to say if you didn't goose step accordingly, things were more difficult and unpleasant for you. I can't speak for Ray but those years of a person's life can be really annoying and yet so very temporary. Ray has started his own welding company called "Texas Custom Welding". He is happily married, has children and is doing well. I truly enjoy when the underdogs dominate the challenges of life. It is most excellent! I look forward to Ray and his son joining my friends and I soon so we may do some long distance rifle practice. It will be a good time for all involved.
"I neither know nor think that I know"
-Socrates
After high school I left Willow Park/Aledo. I have traveled the United States Of America and traveled the world. I will continue traveling and experiencing new things until I can no longer move and my heart stops beating. I have always been a person "marching to the beat of their own drum" as they say. One of my mother's closest friends. "Mom Two" has always called me "her little drummer boy." I choose to live this way because it is my own way, my own life and I realized long ago that no one on this planet really knows anything in the grand scheme of things. I know some brilliant people and have come across people who's intelligence quota can match the most high functioning minds mankind has ever known: Michelangelo, Descartes, Galilei, Newton, Da Vinci, Einstein, Hawkings or even Neil deGrasse Tyson. As is often said "I know that I know nothing" in the end, none of us know a damn thing.
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