Dear Glencoe,

A Thank You Note and Love Letter to a New Home

I never planned to move to Glencoe, Minnesota, and when I finally did, it was for rather mundane reasons. But what was to me at first nothing more than a cheap house that happened to be close to my sister and her family has become the kind of true home that I haven’t enjoyed since I was a child.

I grew up in Greenfield, Minnesota, right on the border of counties Hennepin and Wright. The tiny neighborhood with the big yards to play in with the other neighborhood kids was the perfect place to grow up, as far as I was concerned. But certain needs brought my family further into the metro during my adolescence, and I found myself living in Maple Grove for several years. Shortly before I got married, I rented my first apartment even deeper into the heart of the Twin Cities area in Brooklyn Park, just blocks away from where my father had grown up. After a series of unexpected circumstances - including bullets and a baby - bounced me and my young family around the metro from Brooklyn Park to Minnetonka to Maple Plain, we’d finally had enough and decided that it was time for something more permanent.

My heart was pulling me back west, but my bank account would pull me farther in that direction than I initially had any interest in going. It turns out that I grew up not realizing exactly how good I had it, and when homes in the area where I was raised proved to be woefully out of our budget, our house hunting range expanded, and nearly every home within an hour of our church that was both for sale and in our price range turned out to be in Glencoe. My sister and her family had moved to the town a couple years previously, which made it easier for my wife and I to consider moving to a town so far away from the other institutions of our life, namely our church and my parents’ home in Hennepin County. We visited four houses in one day and bought our second-favorite one.

She’s nearly a hundred years old. The floors all creak, the yard is only about half grass, and the garage is falling apart, and that’s just some of the stuff we knew about when we signed the purchase agreement. Since then, charming surprises like a leaky cistern and bats in the attic have kept us on our toes as new homeowners. And yet, despite these drawbacks, I love this darling old brute of a house more than the nicest apartment I ever lived in, even more than the Maple Grove house where I spent my teenage years. I feel like George Bailey at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life kissing his broken banister whenever I come home from a long day of work and have to lift up as hard as I can on the handle of the front door to keep it from squeaking and waking up my son from his nap in the pack and play on the living room floor.

Beyond my property line, the whole town has been a delight to me and my family in many ways. Neighbors have welcomed us into their homes and joined us at ours for meals and bonfires. Bible studies at the local coffee shop have introduced me to God-fearing men in the community who have encouraged me in my faith. Local parks and events have provided many smiles and laughs for my children. Even the local DMV, which I’ve never had to be in for more than fifteen minutes, blows other towns where I’ve lived out of the water.

In Glencoe, the passing trains may be loud, but they don’t drown out the music of the church bells that greet me in the morning. In Glencoe, I’m able to walk safely with my family to local stores or on a stroll around the neighborhood. In Glencoe, I’m blessed to enjoy a bevy of local accommodations that I never would have thought to look for, from the lovely parks and wildlife sanctuary to practical things like the leaf vacuum truck in the Fall.

I’ve stirred up a little trouble here and there since moving into town. My concern for public matters and love of writing have compelled me to publish stories about certain local, controversial matters, and I know I’ve caused the occasional headache for some of my new neighbors. I have no intention of stopping, but I do hope that, in addition to the more controversial things, I can take opportunities like this to offer praise and celebration for the community that has taken me in, and that doing so will help make up for the less pleasant things I have to write about occasionally.

Some folks in town like to bring up that Glencoe was voted "ugliest town in Minnesota” by some out-of-town schmucks. And sure, she has her rough patches. But one thing I’ve learned without a doubt since moving here is that there is plenty of beauty to be found by the eyes that care to look for it.

Thank you for taking in me and my family, Glencoe. Thank you for sharing all of this beauty with me.