Why growing up in a small town wasn’t so bad after all
Growing up in a principal and coach’s family wasn’t always easy or fun. On the one hand, I was proud that my dad worked for the school, because it meant he worked for kids. He loved to teach and coach—and having been a kid with little academic motivation himself, he made a special effort to reach students who were less inclined to enjoy school.
A proud coach’s daughter at age 3
On the other hand, because the population of my hometown was about 2000, there was no escaping being recognized. Everywhere we went, people knew my dad—church, the grocery store, restaurants, the hardware store, the gas station—everywhere.
When my daughter was in middle school, we took her friend with us on a weekend visit to see my parents. She prepared her by saying, quite seriously, “My grandpa’s a little bit famous in Lena.”
As an adult, I could laugh, but as a kid, sometimes it was hard not to feel like I lived in a fishbowl. My dad didn’t seem to mind the attention, even though the faces looking in were not always friendly. It’s impossible for a teacher, coach, or principal to do their job in a way that makes everyone happy.
I often wondered what it would be like to be a regular kid, and by the time I was a senior in high school, I couldn’t wait to go away to college. I loved walking across the Western Illinois University campus surrounded by people who didn’t know me or my dad. When I graduated, I moved to Indianapolis, and I lived in several small cities before becoming a parent.
That’s when I began to appreciate the benefits of growing up in a small town.
There were about 100 kids in my class, and we had some great teachers who prepared us well for life after graduation. We didn’t have the extensive opportunities kids have today for academics and extracurriculars, but we had enough. And we got a good balance of discipline and expectations with care and concern.
In the summertime, I spent a lot of time at the local swimming pool, and I rode my bike to the Lena Library every few days for new books. I loved buying penny candy at the Ben Franklin store or a cherry coke at the drug store soda fountain. What I learned about being a good employee and customer service from my first job as a carhop at the Lena Drive Inn prepared me for the work world.
As a parent, I realized that it can be good for kids to be recognized by caring adults who look out for each other’s children.
Lena, Illinois was a pretty good place to grow up. So good that when we became parents my husband and I looked for a similar small town to raise our family and found it in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. I knew my daughters would face similar challenges as teacher/coach’s kids, but I also knew they would reap similar benefits.
I am so appreciative for all the support and messages I’ve received from people in Lena about my book. Today I’m very proud to be giving my first book talk at the library where I checked out books as a kid, the library where my mom served on the board from 1990 to 2002 and has again since 2019. I will see friends of my mom, a few classmates and teammates, and some folks who watched my dad coach, or me play, basketball.
As a nod to my dad, I’ll be wearing the watch he got to commemorate his induction to the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame as a Friend of Basketball and white Converse All Stars, the kind he wore to play in high school. Because ready or not, today I’ll be a little bit famous in Lena.
Watch next week for details about a book talk in Dodgeville!