When we’re children, I don’t know that we can fully appreciate our roots. In fact, I’m sure we can’t.
Things like culture, heritage, family history, and geographic locale aren’t on our “life in the moment” radar.
Children live in the now.
A child’s world is immediacy. It’s Mama’s smile at breakfast; Daddy’s hug as he leaves for work. It’s macaroni and cheese, crayons and coloring books, and stinky socks on a summer day.
Little ones don’t think in terms of tomorrow. They understand the concrete–the tangible. The things that adults so often take for granted.
I once heard it said: “I loved being a child. Though I didn’t realize it then, those years were the best years of my life.”
As I’ve matured, I understand that statement, and I fully embrace it.
In the present, I have a full and happy life. I know Jesus. I have a loving family, my health, and a beautiful home.
Despite this, life hasn’t always been fair, kind, or easy.
I’ve worked hard.
I’ve survived loss.
I’ve known heartache.
Just like you.
I’ve grown from where I’ve been and I can reconcile how it’s shaped me.
As a youngster, growing up in the Ozarks was an interesting mix of old and new. Life meandered along at a steady, but snail-like pace. “Change” in some areas was slow to come, while in larger towns, transformation was more obvious.
I grew up in one of those smaller regions where “new” and “different” had to be mulled over and left to simmer for a while. A long while.
At the little elementary school I attended, most of us shared similar backgrounds and breeding. There was a rump roast sale on Fridays at our local market, and church on Sundays was the town norm. Our mamas and daddys were hard workers who knew the value of a dollar and “waste” was a foreign concept.
Where I lived, summer was less about boredom and more of an adventure. There was always a bike to be ridden, dirt to dig in, a swing at the ready, and cousins to visit.
We had a drug store that had a real soda fountain, a hardware store that sold everything from A to Z, and a department store that boasted bib overalls for the men and dresses and aprons for the women. And each business establishment was locally owned and operated and closed on Sundays. Big box stores and shopping meccas hadn’t arrived yet and neither had the hustle and bustle of life in the fast lane.
In the Ozarks, along the expanse of old Route 66, the hills and hollows were lush, green, and scented with honeysuckle. Folks who lived in the nearby, little niches were self-made, salt-of-the-earth, not-afraid-to-get-their-hands-dirty kind of people. They were passionate about God, country, family, and friends.
Though I no longer live in the same town I grew up in, my little neck of the woods is still a subtle blend of yesteryear and today. Time has given way to progress, and our growth and change reflect this, but our culture is still unique and our heritage the same.
I use my beloved Ozarks as the backdrop for my stories and I can’t wait to one day share them with you.
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What are your favorite childhood memories?
What do you love most about the area in which you live now?
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Blessings Always,
Comments 11
I can’t wait to read your stories, Cynthia.
Author
Loree, thank you! That goes both ways, friend!
I can’t wait to see your stories in print! 🙂 I don’t write too much about where I live now. I think one book, maybe.
But I haven written about where I have lived.
Author
Jess, I can’t wait to see yours (in print, too. 😉 ) Wish you could vlog an entire book–yours would be a stunner!
Sounds a lot like where I grew up in rural West Virginia. It took me 20 years away from home to appreciate the mountains–this year we moved back to WV. And I’m so glad my kids will grow up here. I hope to write novels set here someday, as well. Hope to read yours someday, too, Cynthia!
Author
Heather, I’ve always wanted to visit West Virginia. Sometimes, it takes some time away to fully appreciate our roots/heritage.
Here’s to your upcoming novels….>>>clink<<< From my Starbucks mug to yours!
I still live in the area I grew up in for most of my childhood. When I was a kid I thought I hated it here. Partly because I loved where we lived in Missouri (Warrensburg/Knob Noster) and I didn’t want to leave.
Now that I’m older with kids of my own, I love it here. My community has grown less rural over the years, so there are some things missing that I wish my kids had known. For instance, I used to spend my summers all scratched up and chigger-infested from raiding the wild blackberry bushes. I have never tasted “domesticated” blackberries that even comes close to the sweetness of those wild beauties.
I’m thankful that we still have an abundance of honeysuckle and so many dogwoods on our property that a blanket of white hangs over us in spring. It’s almost like a fairytale to come over the hill & see our place.
Author
Tonya, your home sounds lovely. What a beautiful description!
Favorite childhood memories–eating watermelon on the back porch, seed-spitting contest…and corn on the cob. Everything tasted better then. 🙂
I spent my childhood in several locations, but every neighborhood seemed ideal…and close-knit! My parents, grandparents and many aunts and uncles and cousins grew up in the Ozarks. Where ever they lived their values and traditions went with them…and so it became part of my life too…whether we were “there or here” our Ozark roots ran so deep they always produced fruit!
Author
Kathryn (Kate?), indeed there are many little niches in the Ozarks that are slices of heaven. Some areas still seem like a step back in time. What part of the Ozarks is your family from?