Going home

I went back to my birthplace awhile ago; it hadn't changed much over what seems like an endless period.Small towns do that if the people who call it home make certain things remain instead of being replaced. I walked the streets of town looking into the windows of a high-end coffee shop and hair salon that used to be a mom and pop diner and a hardware store. I smelled the coffee, but my mind took me back to the smell of freshly ground beans served piping hot in a mug that said “Just like moms”

The buildings along main street remained the same from a building standpoint and I could name almost all of them as I slowly made my way down memory lane. The jewelry store where I bought my first friendship ring for my highschool sweetheart, the soda fountain that made the best chocolate malts anywhere. A men's clothing store where my dad took me for the first suit that I wore for my first communion. On one corner was what I thought at the time to be the biggest store in the world, it had three floors and an elevator.

A lady's dress shop where my mom took my sisters to shop for easter dresses while dad and I visited the Knights of Columbus for a soda and a beer.I can close my eyes and smell the cigars and cigarettes while frank Sinatra played on the Wurlitzer jukebox. A bit further down main street was a shoe store where sales clerks measured your foot and helped you tie the new shoes I would be wearing along with that first suit.

I stopped in front of a particular storefront that was now a pet store with several cute little puppies pawing at the glass hoping for a new home, but I remember it as the recruiting station where I went at seventeen years of age and joined the navy. My mind raced back in time to those days aboard a ship sailing around the vast oceans every day an adventure.I remember writing so many letters to the folks back home who I missed telling them of my visits to exotic ports and that I couldn’t wait to come back home.

I continued my walk, zipping up my coat as night had arrived along with some light snow. It took me back to when all the stores decorated their windows with the most beautiful holiday decorations, all made by the hands of the store owners. We would spend hours stopping in front of every display putting us in the mood to put up our decorations starting tomorrow.Before going home, we would stop in the soda fountain for some hot chocolate and family conversation. That’s the part I miss the most.

I left my hometown after my visit heading back to the life I chose so many years ago. I left with some fresh memories, a few tears, and a promise to come back sooner, which I knew I would because every kid needs to go back home.

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