Diane is taking a few days off to help a friend ... just the kind of behavior you'd expect from a "small town girl."

I lived in big cities for fifteen years before moving to our small town of Fuquay-Varina. And once during the last ten years, we moved back to a big city for two years. The fact that we came back here pretty much says it all about where we prefer to be and where we prefer to raise our family. I was thinking about the things that make a small town different ... things that those who grew up here might take for granted:

You regularly traverse roads that are named after the families of people you know.

You have held your Book Group meeting at the mayor's house.

The cashier at the supermarket, the Citgo station and your pharmacist know you on a first-name basis.

People honk at you and wave if you are walking outside your house. People DO NOT honk at you for not accelerating a millisecond after the light turns green.

Your neighbor accepts packages, like wedding dresses, for you...oh wait, getting confused with Desperate Housewives!

You see no fewer than three people you know pictured in the local newspaper each week.

People call if you if they see your kid drinking/smoking/hanging out with the wrong crowd. And your kids know to tell you IMMEDIATELY if they do something wrong because you will have received several phone calls letting you know before the kid even gets home.

People will stop your children and admonish them if they are doing something wrong/stupid…one of mine learned this the hard way last Halloween when he was driving a golf cart like a maniac with several children's limbs hanging off.

You shouldn't run errands in sweats and dirty hair because you WILL run into someone you know…except that here no one cares!

People join the High School Athletic Boosters even if they don't have a kid in the high school.

Pretty much everyone you know is at the Friday night home football game. And about a quarter of the parents of the football players and cheerleaders are your friends.

If you get sick or someone dies, someone immediately coordinates a schedule of people to prepare meals for your family.

Many of your friends still have their pictures, jerseys or signed footballs displayed in the high school lobby.

If you get in a car accident or are pulled over for speeding, several people who drove by call you later to make sure everything is OK.

Although I wasn't born here, I call this small town home and these words from John Mellencamp resonate with me whenever I hear them:

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from

I cannot forget the people who love me

Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town

And people let me be just what I want to be

What do you love about your small town?

Diane appears Wednesdays on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Diane on her blog Live and Let Di.