Life in a Smalll Town

by Michele Boy | May 29, 2025

It’s the end of May. As I write this Wednesday morning boys are at state golf doing well!! Girls are headed to state track. So it doesn’t feel like school is out yet. I wish I could delay the paper’s publishing to have the results but life doesn’t work that way. 
I researched an alumni story that had a tragedy within it. Many, probably all, have some tragedies, death too soon, incomprehensible pain. So much happens we don’t understand. So much struggle, sorrow, and confusion. 
As my daughter is growing up and gaining more freedoms, my worry level rises. On the last day of school her and a couple of friends went to grab a snow cone. I thought,  “Yes, small town life. Enjoy friends a treat walk around town and hang out at the park.”
But the very second I relaxed and enjoyed the moment, sirens went off. I was gripped with fear and worry. 
I turned on the police scanner. There was an accident
I messaged her quickly but she was enjoying herself and didn’t get the message. 
Letting go isn’t easy. Soon she will be driving. That scares me too. Every new step she takes reminds me of how scary the world can be.  And how my faith has to be stronger. 
Hebrews 11:1 says - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
I am grateful
I think about where my focus is. If I only focus on the worry and the sorrow, I miss out on life. If I only focus on the past, I miss out on life. 
Every day I have to fix my eyes on the good, accept the worry, make the best decisions I can with what I know at the time, and most of all trust God.
When I look at my past with the right focus, I can see that the failures and the struggles have helped many others. 
  If I did it all right, if I never failed at anything. If my life was perfect, how many people would I have helped? If my job on this earth is to help others, then I succeeded. I hope. 
 My daughter asked me why I chose Syracuse to live? I explained I didn’t. I just asked God if I could help someone. I am sure my husband laughs that he has to help me far more than I help him. But God has a plan.
 Through a series of twists and turns, I landed here when a friend I met in Arizona came back home to western Kansas and I followed her. 
 My friend and I laugh that she ended up moving to a city and left me here. But I am happy here. I love rural life. I like little traffic. I enjoy the sunsets, the people, and the community.
 At the Memorial Day reading of the names of Hamilton County veterans that have passed on, I was surprised. Though I have only been here for about 24 years, I knew many of the people or their families. 
I think about how the death of one person ripples across the county. 
In a large city, you are just a name. Here, that name is directly connected to someone you know. I thanked many of them in my head for their service, for their sacrifice, and for their family that has helped shape me. 
How or why I got to Syracuse doesn’t matter. When big city people, aka my former self, proclaim these are just flyover states, they are truly missing out. 
  As I watched the parade of floats go by this Saturday, I wished I had the opportunity to interview them all. I wanted to hear their stories of growing up in small town western Kansas. I wanted to know the people they lost and what they meant to them.
  For better or worse, I like stories better than asking or seeking advertising, which may be my downfall. 
If there is any space in the newspaper, I would rather it go to something else going on in town. 
  How do you view your role in town? Do you serve on a committee to help? Do you teach? Volunteer? Or maybe someone walks in the door of your office and you give them a word they need for the day? 
Have you ever said the right thing at the right time to the person who needed it? I have. It is awesome.
Sadly, I have also said the wrong thing at the wrong time to the right person and ugh, terrible feeling. 
  We don’t know what will happen in the next minute, hour, or day. 
I hope we stop, breathe, and make the most of the time we have here on this earth. Look back, but not too long. Look forward, but don’t miss out on today. 
 There is a lot of good in the world if you look for it. 
  As I finished writing this, another obituary came in of someone dear to many in the community. Life is precious. Find the joy when you can.