Finding Myself in a Small Town

Last week I checked off an item on my bucket list. I now own - along with my husband Houston - a building in Corsicana’s Main Street district. Not long after moving here from Dallas I realized I wanted us to have our own little slice of downtown. That desire grew stronger year after year.

Five years ago when we moved to Corsicana, then editor of the Corsicana Daily Sun, Michael Kormos, asked if I would write a weekly column for the newspaper. Being a freelance writer, I said yes pretty quickly, knowing that any opportunity to write is great for honing my craft. 

Initially I struggled with finding a name for the once a week essay. Even though I knew I’d mostly write about our farm, I also wanted to touch on the idea of living in a small town. (We lived in a downtown loft our first three years in the area, while making the daily commute to our rural property.) I came upon the name “Finding Myself in a Small Town.” I could see myself becoming who I was created to be while living here. And I was learning so much about myself in the process. 

Later, after we moved onto our 21 acre farm, 20 minutes away, I found myself making almost daily trips to downtown Corsicana to meet friends for coffee, to attend meetings, really just to connect. I finally realized that I needed us to move back to town. My husband was fully supportive. So in January, 2024, we began looking for a loft or condo to rent. 

Later that month we found out that a 150 year old building on Beaton Street was for sale. We first visited the property on Sunday, January 28th. Almost immediately we could see the potential. While we hadn’t intended on buying a property, since the downstairs was already outfitted to be a restaurant, and therefore a revenue source, it made us think maybe this was where we were supposed to be. Still, it felt like such a long shot. Who would we get to move into the downstairs space? And how would we run both the farm and a property in town? Add to that all the decisions around figuring out how to make the upstairs space feel like home. But step by step, things started falling into place. So we continued to dream. 

And you know what, those dreams started becoming realities. The seller, who had poured his heart and soul into the building, was amazing to work with. Our realtor expertly led us through the ins and outs of purchasing a historic property. Our tenants are the best partners we could have ever asked for. And now we have people living on the farm helping us to manage that side of our business. 

Along with all of these individuals, as well as our family, friends and community, I’ve been given the opportunity to continue finding myself in a small town.

This piece first appeared in Sherry’s column, Finding Myself in a Small Town, in the September 21, 2024 edition of the Corsicana Daily Sun.