Village life

 

You wanna go where people know, people are all the same, You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

– Cheers Theme Tune  Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo

When I was a teenager I did everything to leave the small town that I have lived in since birth. I moved to Skegness, Whitby, for the summer seasons, moved to a town nearby & even spent 6 months in Sheffield at 17 years old.

However, when I got together with my childhood crush (who is now my husband) I ended up back in my hometown. We planned on moving to Whitby after a few years however this never happened and instead we focused on making a family.

Now I’m a mum, I have actually made friends in the village! When I was growing up I had a couple of friends but we lost touch a little.

They do say it takes a village to raise a child and we’ve now got 4. Our little town is more like living in a village.

Since being home from the hospital I really have a better appreciation for the village life!

I can walk around the block after school. Call into friends for a cuppa. Head to the coffee shop for breakfast and a chat with the staff.

People in the street that I’ve really only before said hello to ask me how I am and tell me how worried they were about me.

I feel so much stronger than I thought I would after all that has happened in the past few weeks and I believe it’s down to the support from not only my family and friends but also the people around the village that have asked how I was and shown me that people do still care.

At the moment I feel lucky to be able to let my kids grow up in a village lifestyle. There are a couple of play parks that we can walk to – Yes sometimes they could be tidier, sometimes there is glass that idiots have broken. but this happens everywhere.

I am part of the WI in a nearby village and last week was the first time I’ve been in ages.

Out of the blue one of the members brought me a freshly made apple pie that she had made! I think really she wanted to meet the new babies but it was so thoughtful and made me again feel lucky to not only be part of the WI but part of village life!

I also have my online village, the ones that give me a shout out from time to time, the ones that have been messaging me to see how I’m getting on and to give me moral support while I was in hospital, the ones that give advise on parenting and the ones that don’t even know I exist but keep me entertained with their vlogs.

 

Nina x