Anonymous No More

When I lived in Grand Rapids my life was filled with anonymity. No matter where I went throughout the day, most people would never know where I had been unless I posted it on facebook. Occasionally I would run into someone from church at Meijer, or a friend from the Y while shopping at Target. Or we would run into another family from school while at gymnastics class. But seeing someone I knew while out and about was never a guarantee.

Moving to the Village of Fonda has changed all that.  I had an experience our first week here that will illustrate my point. I drove out to the small village of Glen, that neighbors Fonda, to go to The Glen Country Store.  This small farmer-owned, farmer-run store had been recommended to me as a great place to find many local foods and homemade yummy breads.  When I walked in I scanned the store and took note of the people inside.  I noticed the farmer who owns the store behind the counter, a local police officer who appeared to be buddies with the farmer, a woman in the kitchen who was covered in flour from the pumpkin bars that were baking and filling the air with wonderful fall smells of pumpkin and nutmeg. And I noticed a few other patrons who were visiting with a cup of coffee in hand.

After allowing me to peruse the store for a few minutes, the farmer called out to me in a friendly tone, "I don't recognize you. Can I help you find anything?" 

"I am new to the area and was told I should come here and check our your store" I replied.



The farmer, who's name I later discovered was Tim, asked me where I had moved to. I told him I was living in Fonda.



"What?! Someone actually moved into Fonda? I thought everyone was moving out of there!" the police officer chimed in.


I laughed nervously. And as the conversation continued those in the store discovered that I was married to Josh, the new pastor at Fonda Reformed Church.


Once they knew who I was, I quickly discovered that they already knew that we had recently moved from MI, that we were living in the house next door to the church, that our house backs up to Stewart's (similar to 7-11), and that I had already had some of the homemade bread from this very store, because "Debbie" had been in the store and bought a loaf to give us as a welcoming gift.  My jaw just about hit the dirty floor of this farm store, housed in an old red barn.


Another instance where I realized that I am no longer invisible in a sea of mid-westerners, was when Lydia and I went to our new local library. It was on the second Tuesday of our new residency in Fonda, Lydia and I walked to the Frothingham Free Library located 2 blocks from our house. Much to my surprise, the librarian was Sherry, whom I had met on Sunday at church. She is a long time member.  After getting re-aquainted with Sherry, Debbie appeared from around the corner. She too, works at the library and is another active member of our congregation. As the conversation continued Sherry mentioned that she had seen me earlier in the day coming out of the State Farm office. I laughed. Debbie then added that I must have been everywhere that day because she'd seen me pulling out of the post office.

Did I mention that I can't blend in and go un-noticed anymore?  But I'm discovering that anonymity is over-rated and being noticed, recognized and waved to around every corner is a welcome change.