Gena Lashley
A Perfect Oasis for the Family
By
Oct 8, 2008 - 8:02:22 AM

On a recent beautiful Saturday afternoon, I was driving through Chester with my windows rolled down and singing with my two-year-old, who was in the backseat.  We were on our way to Chester Library, and a feeling of such contentment came over me, I felt filled up to the brim.  I have always liked Chester, but at that moment, I realized what a rare, wonderful little place this was.  I have lived here for three years now, but didn’t see the full potential of this town until I became a mother.  Sad, I know, but very true.

Chester offers me so much as a traditional, family-oriented person.  It holds all of my hopes and dreams for the future.  I cannot bear to think of leaving this wonderful town.  I am a fried-chicken-and-potato-salad-after-church kind of girl.  Walks through town and stopping for ice cream on a summer evening, running around until you can’t catch any more lightning bugs, going to the library on a Saturday afternoon, small-town kind of girl.  Chester is the perfect oasis for my growing family and myself.  I want to raise my children in this type of town.

Chester offers all of the beauty and sense of community like that of a small town, but also the convenience of more populated areas, such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, Starbucks, and Panera, to name a few.  We are gradually expanding our horizons, but haven’t lost that village feel, which is very important to many growing families and me.  We all strive for our children to be raised in such an idyllic setting.  Baseball games on Saturday, county fairs, swimming at the local pool, going to church on Sundays, playing outside with their neighborhood friends, and walking through town and knowing people passing you by.  These days, things are changing fast and kids are growing up even faster, really at an alarming rate.  When I was eleven years old, I was still playing with Barbie dolls and was absolutely not allowed to call boys; nice girls didn’t do that.  Now nine-year-olds have cell phones, wear mini-skirts and make-up, and wouldn’t go within 25 feet of a Barbie doll.  They strive to be grown-up, but haven’t even let themselves be kids.

I feel that towns like Chester help keep kids and their childhoods intact.  We offer so many things for families to do together, and that is the most important thing when it comes to raising kids: togetherness.  I’m no expert, believe me; I’ve only be doing this motherhood thing for two-and-a-half years, but my work keeps me around kids of all ages, and I pay attention.  Places like Chester are one in a million.  We have the roots and have built upon the foundation of family, and you can feel that, even just driving down Rt. 10.  This is where I see my family five, ten, fifteen years from now.

This is my love letter to Chester, to show Chester that it is loved, that it is not taken for granted, and that it is held very dear to my heart.  



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