I used to think the definition of a small town was simple: it was all about population.Growing up in Excelsior Springs, it felt obvious. We weren’t Kansas City and didn’t have massive highways or glass office towers. Everyone knew everyone and we all lived within a few turns of each other. That, to me, was small-town life.However, over the years – and through a few moves – that definition has started to blur.After high school, I went to college in Lee’s Summit, where I met people from towns even smaller than Excelsior. One of my volleyball teammates had a graduating class of three. Not thirty – three.Later, I lived in Richmond, working as a 911 dispatcher. Richmond felt small in a familiar way – close-knit and rooted in tradition – but it also had its own sense of identity, different from the Excelsior I’d grown up in. And now, back in Excelsior Springs again, I’ve started to notice just how much a town can grow and change without nece...