I love living in a small town

I'm always entertained when I go to vote in Upton. When I give my name I never know what kind of response I'm going to get. My in-laws have been very active in town politics over the years and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law have older children so they've been around the school system for awhile. Overall my husband's family has been living in Upton since the late 1960's.

At Voter Check-In:

Me: Hi. I'm Diane Snow.

Volunteer: Oh hi! Are you Kyle Snow's mother?

Me: Nope. That's the other Diane Snow. Kyle is my nephew.

Volunteer: Oh. Here's your ballot.

At Voter Check-Out:

Me: Hi. I'm Diane Snow.

Volunteer: Hi! You're Lincoln's wife, right?

Me: Yep.

Volunteer: We've had this conversation before, haven't we?

Me: Yep. Every election. Good to see you again.

Volunteer: You too. Have a great day.

The funny thing is this conversation doesn't only take place at the polling station. I get this a lot. Most recently when I was asked to show my ID buying beer (yes, at the age of 31!!!) at the liquor store.

Cashier: Diane Snow? Which of the Snows are you related to?

Me: All of them. But I'm married to the youngest one.

Cashier: Oh Lincoln! That's great. His mom and I used to do Bloomer Girls together.

As for the political aspect, I don't get that as much anymore now that my in-laws are no longer as active in town politics but this is generally how that conversation goes.

Townie: Diane Snow? Are you related to Bob Snow?

Me: Yep. He's my father-in-law.

Townie: I love him. I see him at the town meetings all the time. He asks great questions.

OR

Townie: Diane Snow? Are you related to Gail Snow?

Me: Yep. She's my mother-in-law.

Townie: Oh....and how is that?

Gail is a real firecracker and she's a bulldog when it comes to people trying to move in and over-develop Upton. People don't always agree with her but she definitely stands up for what she believes in and I think Upton is better off for it.

But not to let you believe I don't have my own identity here in Upton - slowly but surely I'm starting to get my own local acknowledgement. Mostly from people with young children because my name is all over everything for the PTO and the Upton Moms.

Me: Hi. I'm Diane Snow.

Other Mom: Oh! Wow. Finally a face with the name. I see your name all over the place. It's nice to meet you.

That actually freaks me out because you never know what this person thinks of you or what they expected before they met you.

But my favorite small town acknowledgement is when I go back to Iowa and introduce myself as Diane Snow, formerly Lentz, and they say: "Oh, Danny's youngest! It's great to see you." And that's 20 years after I moved away!

You see, in a small town you can always go back home again.