Our Way of Life: Familiar and Foreign

A Decade in the Delta

I did live it, for a decade or so. I still work in agriculture every day, but home for me is the city. I was born to it, and I love it as deeply as any farmer loves their open fields, small towns, and dusty roads

Those rural years were spent in the Mississippi Delta. I bought my first house in the tiny town of Benoit and spent months renovating it before moving in. I battled mosquitoes and stubborn vines like it was a full-time job. Luckily, a kind farmer would often take pity on me when it looked like I might lose the war on that overgrown yard.

My mayor didn’t use email. He wrote letters by hand and had someone deliver them door-to-door to save on postage.

Learning and Giving Back

While living there, I taught Junior Achievement at the local school- helping students understand how to manage checking accounts. Later, I learned some of those kids had taken the lessons home to parents who were skeptical of banks and only operated with cash.

I kept going back to that school. One time, I brought a traveling son-and-dance troupe from across the world because I knew how powerful new experiences could be. Not everyone in that town had the chance to attend plays or musicals, so we brought them a matinee.

Familiar Faces and Silhouettes

From my office chair, I could track crop progress and tell you who was in which tractor just by their silhouette, no matter the time of day or night. In small towns, stories circulate like gospel, and newcomers often feel like outsiders, even if they’re doing the required two-finger wave from a Jeep.

Being a new face meant hearing the town’s “greatest hits” of storytelling more than once, and honestly, laughter is good for the soul.

A City Girl’s Upbringing

I grew up in a place where you could remain a little anonymous. You traveled in different circles – school, sports, church – and could be surprised to bump into someone from one circle while in another. That rately happens ina small town, and honestly, bing recognized everywhere can feel vulnerable to a city girl.

There are probably too many details to explain how the city raised me, but it shaped my soul in unique and meaningful ways.

Finding Independence in a City Childhood

Independence came early. My siblings and I often went to different schools, which meant different schedules and no expectations to be just like each other. I didn’t have many teachers in common with older siblings until junior high, so I got to build my own identity early on.

I know rural friends whose kids are taught by the same teachers they had, and who go to the same church and sit in the same pews.

Exploration, Lessons, and Stitches

City life offered endless options. Want to try something new? It was always there- church groups, after-school activities, foods, even wildly different dance styles than anything our parents could recognize.

My sister and I once took trampline “lessons”, and I use that word lightly. We mostly learned how not to get hurt. She still ended up with stitches.

But we also did serious things. My brother and I joined the cast of Godspell through a community and church collaboration.

Welcoming the World In

The city was a revolving door of new faces and voices. I learned young how to listen beyond an accent and use context to understand people. I heard stories of faraway places and was asked questions about things I thought were universal, only to realize they were distinctly American, or even Southern.

We welcomed many of those people into our lives and cried when they went home.

Safety, Street Smarts, and Shared Awareness

Safety meant something different in the city. Developing street smarts wasn’t just for kids; it was something families talked about openly. Reading the room was a survival skill, and we taught each other took out for more than just ourselves.

We locked car doors without thinking and knew that trust wasn’t handed out freely.

Freedom, Discovery, and Joy

The city offered constant discovery. We could ride our bikes in one direction for snow cones, in another for ice cream, and find a vacant lot to build ramps in a third.

Music? Everywhere. Live rock concerts at school, ballet the next week, and the symphony after that. It was all within reach.

A Life in the Middle

Today, I still love that mix- the uniqueness of people, places, and things to do. I’ve lived in the New York metro, spent time back home in Memphis, and now live in St. Louis.

Still, I find myself missing those really dark skies full of stars, and the peace of not seeing another car or building for miles.

Bridging the Gap Between Worlds

Somehow, I’ve built a career that connects these two experiences. I serve as a. bridge between “Our Way of Life” and others.

So maybe that’s what makes it work for me- just make “way” plural.

I’m comfortable living in the middle. And maybe the diversity is what suits me best.