Actually...all three. I grew up in a small town, L'Anse Michigan. As I see all the Halloween decorations out now, it makes me think of Halloween in a small town. It was so fun. It was a town event, people and kids everywhere walking and running up and down the streets. Nobody was worried about people hurting kids, it was just a celebration that brought everybody out. Of course, living in the UP of Michigan meant that by the end of October we had to wear our winter jackets under our costumes. It kind of ruined the look of the costume but the sugar high drowned out the disappointment. The freedom that came with living in a small town leaves some enchanting memories in my mind. My brother and I walking to the candy store to pick out penny candy. We could walk by ourselves, it was only a couple blocks away and there weren't the dangers of the city. Our dog made her rounds and visited all the neighbors who gave her food and treats.
At 10, we moved to Minneapolis. What a culture shock that was. The things we heard about the city were scary and there were just so many people . . . everywhere. We lived in south Minneapolis. The area was nice but there were the realities of places in the city that you should not go alone. And let's be honest, the UP is pretty, um, white. Personal experience with people of other ethnic backgrounds was both fascinating and nerve wracking. But you realize once you get in school, that kids are kids and families are families and there are good and bad of both. We experienced the city and all it had to offer. I learned that if I wanted a job or to get places that I had to ride the city bus. I watched and noticed things that my city friends had never noticed or thought of before simply because they had lived it all their lives. Like the couple that always got on the bus close to downtown. They were old (of course I was young then) but I bet in their 70 or older. The woman looked like a picture straight out of a kid's nightmare of a wicked witch. She had salt and pepper hair that was long and frizzy and came out from under a hat and stuck out everywhere. Then there was the man, who had one leg and one arm that were bent and crippled in some way. He was always about 4 steps behind the woman. She talked all the time, he never talked. As the bus was going down the block to stop at the corner, this couple wanted to catch that bus. They were a ways away and city bus drivers wait for no man (or woman); they have a schedule. This man, with his crippled leg and arm began this awkward sideways RUN. This time he was in front and his babbling companion was taking her many tiny steps to try and keep up with him. Nobody else on the bus was watching this play out. The man seriously hauled ass and covered more territory than I could have imagined and got to the door as the driver was going to close it. His long face with a little crooked mouth looked at the driver and he opened the door back up while the witch impersonator caught up and got on the bus. That was one of the funniest situations that I ever watched and it was all city--a place full of characters if you just look up over your newspaper.
Now I have created yet another lifetime of being a suburbanite. Although I exist in the suburbs, I'm not really "part" of it. I don't really know my neighbors (except for my ex-husband that lives down the road) personally at all. Barely their names really, but I have lived here for 20 years. Yikes it's scary to say it's been that many. I don't take part in Farmington things. I only went to football games when my daughter was a cheerleader and I didn't make friends with the other parents. I was nice to them, but I never saw them outside the school events. I have so many great friends and family and I pretty much stick with them. They're my life, my strength, my happiness and I have all my history with them. I have everything I need right there. I also am out in the country here, so I don't see people walking down the street or things like that, so it allows me to have my own little world in my log house out in the country.
So I am happy to say that I am a mix of all three; small town, city, and suburban. I wouldn't have given up any of them. I think that having all three experiences causes me to observe each one with a little bit of fascination.
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