Ever since we came here almost eight years ago after living in the Deep South for 40 years, I have wanted to go to the town just a couple hours away where I lived until age 10. That was a long time ago, and since I didn't remember specific directions to places from back then, my husband was always reluctant to take me. Yesterday I finally got to go there.
To say things had changed is putting it mildly! The old downtown looked pretty much the same as I remembered it, but of course the names had changed on the plate glass windows of all the buildings that were familiar. I immediately spotted a former drugstore where my city cousin I was visiting had taken my 13-year-old self for lunch. I remember feeling so sophisticated as I ordered a ham-salad sandwich and a coke, as per her instructions. We had ice cream, too, and the combination of ice cream served alongside a curvy, coca-cola glass of ice water was a novel sensation for my country-girl palate.
I knew my school where I had attended for a year in "town school" was at the end of the street, and I strained my eyes for the low brick building, expecting it to be somewhat changed since fourth grade. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was if a whole city had landed from outer space! An educational complex of a high school, sports arena and various buildings seemed to have exploded on the scene, enclosed in high fences and expanded and enlarged beyond my imagination. A lot can happen in 65 years!
The familiar road continued toward the intersection where I remembered turning off into the country to the community where I was raised. Guess what! No connecting road on that side of the highway! We took the one on the other side, which I knew was not right. Finally we stopped at a little store for directions. The cashier had never heard of the place we mentioned. A friendly soft-drink delivery man seemed approachable, and I asked his name, thinking he might be local. Turns out his relatives are from the town where we presently live! As newly-weds, we had known his grandparents, and they were part of the church we now attend! Small world!
We found out the name of the road we were looking for was now named 91st street. We followed that road until it led only to a lake! Had our community been submerged in a lake? Getting hungry by this time, we headed for a larger metro close by, had lunch and visited a mall. We would come back again, this time bolstered with research, which I began when we got home. The internet revealed the community, called "a populated place," does exist, we had just taken the wrong road.
The Road Not Taken, the poem by Robert Frost, ends with "and that has made all of the difference." Next time, we'll take a map, and make a difference of our own!
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