Thomas Wolfe said one can’t go home again, and in a sense, that’s true. I cannot be a child again. My parents are gone, friends have moved on, and much has changed, yet the landmarks remain, and there are still people I care about. I had forgotten the beauty of the change of seasons, and the simple pleasures of the country…hayrides, fruit and vegetable farms, pumpkin patches. A piece of my heart will always be here, the place where I grew up: Montgomery County, Southern Ohio.
I have a family wedding next week in Kentucky, so I drove up a week early to spend time with my “sister” and her family. Holly isn’t really an actual relative, but our parents were best friends, and I’ve known her since I was a baby. I normally saw her at least 2 or 3 times a week, during which she and my big brother, Mike, teased and tortured me, as older siblings do. They were a team when we were little, and I was the baby. They locked me in dark closets, told me there was no Santa, and committed the usual tricks that siblings perform. I survived. Mostly, the times were good. We spent our Christmas Eves together, watched The Wizard of Oz together, and played together. Holly is 6 years older than I, and I thought she was the coolest thing ever when she was in high school, and received her driver’s license. So many of my childhood memories include Holly. She is family and an integral part of my life, as is her husband and two daughters.
And they have kept me busy! Taking drives around the area, seeing what is new, driving through the cornfields, taking hay rides, picking pumpkins, visiting Yellow Springs, Ohio where Antioch College was founded in 1852 (it is the cutest town, and very progressive). We also went to Young’s Dairy to eat ice cream and pet goats and cows. I even saw a Pumpkin Chunkin’!
I also saw old friends….people I went to elementary with, sang with, and grew up with. It is an incredible experience to sit among them again. The connections are still there, the thread of childhood and the discovery of growing up together. Those memories bind us, and always will.
Tomorrow I head for Kentucky, but this week spent with my “family” has been wonderful. I could use more sleep though….Holly and I have stayed up until 2 a.m. more than once! I have enjoyed the amazing colors of Ohio, so different from the fairly lame display we get in Texas, and I can tell you that hayrides in the cool, brisk air beats hayrides in 90 degree heat. I head out tomorrow, and I leave with a happy, full heart.
Happy autumn!
