Welcome to a brand new feature here at SusanvilleStuff! Each Wednesday Terra Avilla will be taking a look at our town and the people who live here – a window into the wonderful place we call home.
Why We Love This Place Wednesdays
By Terra Avilla
When Mr. Couso originally asked me if I would write a weekly article about the place I call home, I knew instantly what I wanted to write about. I want to write about you. About your neighbors. About your teachers, about your favorite stores. More conceptually, about the excitement that buzzes in the air at Fair time, which is so intense you can almost touch it.
I want to write about the best condiments to put on the world famous belly buster burger, that is quite possibly the best in the western hemisphere.
I want to write about your favorite place to wish on stars that only a Lassen County summer night reveals, or about the feeling that is in that air when you watch a Lassen High School football game for the first time of the season.
I want to write about all of us – about all of us together as a community. Our very unique, interwoven family. That is, after all, what makes Susanville so special.
Born and raised in Reno, I don’t think I could ever be happy there again, after having felt from this community what I feel when I walk down the street. Little kids actually playing outside, lemonade stands, bicycle rides, cartwheels on the grass, neighbors mowing each other’s lawn. All of it.
There is some sort of magic between the residents of our community that I cannot put into words. I think it is miraculous that my daughters will be raised in a place where they go to church with Chief of Police, live next to the Mayor, high-five the warden at the Uptown Christmas parade, and are being loved by people in the community who care about them as their own.
When they go to school, the entire staff will know their name, not just their assigned teacher which is a pretty impressive feat. It’s not just my children it’s all of, our children.
It’s the town veterinarian making a special trip to your house because your animals are sick, or your neighbors bringing up your newspaper, or the stranger in the parking lot of IGA who helps you load your groceries, because that is what they do. That is what caliber of people we have here.
These type of small experiences in accumulation are immeasurable.
I’ve seen our community come together quickly and swiftly whenever there is any type of critical situation. My phone is constantly inundated with people (some I don’t even know) asking how they can help. “What needs to be done?” “Let’s get this going.” As well as, “Please let me help.”
I’ve seen our community suffer heartbreaks with the unexpected passing of people we all love in the town. However, I have also seen the amount of love, support and grace that is poured around those families. Immediate love. Immediate help, and there are just no words to express what this community is capable of doing.
My friends often ask me, “Oh my Gosh, you have been there forever, when are you moving back home?” My response is always the same. “Home is not a place, it is a feeling, Susanville is my family’s home,” and what a blessing that is to be able to say!
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