We all came from somewhere.
For me, it is the mid-sized, mid-western town of Akron, Ohio.
I spent the first 25 years of my life growing up & living there. Got married in Akron, and bought my first house there as well. Maureen & I moved to Mansfield, Ohio in 1980. Our 2 oldest sons were born while we lived there. We moved to Auburn, Indiana in 1988, and have lived here ever since. Our third son was born while living here.
As I grow older, many times my thoughts harken back to the days of when I was young, and to the old neighborhood where we lived when I was very young.
I had to travel to Akron on Monday night to go to the calling hours of a family member who had passed away. The funeral home was not too far from my old neighborhood in Akron. This area, when built in the mid to late 1950’s, was known as “Castle Homes,” and is located in an area of Akron called Kenmore.
With a short amount of time on my hands before going to the funeral home, I decided to make the turn off of Manchester Rd. and onto Carnegie to make the quarter mile or so drive to Millbrook St. We lived in the 13th house on the left hand side of the street, at 2951.
We moved into this house in November of 1957, and stayed living there until April of 1968. I was almost 3 when we moved in, and was 13, and just finishing 7th grade when we moved. Almost everything I can remember from my early childhood took place while living there.
The times spent with my Dad & Mom, and sister & brothers. The family Christmas get together’s with extended family were always at our house. Going to Guinther School and Highland Park School. The neighborhood of people who till this day, I can still remember names, and which houses they lived in. As I alluded to in an earlier story, the baseball playing with my Dad in the backyard. The making of lifelong friends (my 2 best friends, other than family, Gary Ilijevich & Bruce Frazier, grew up in this neighborhood as well. I keep in touch with them to this day).
The street is still in “kept-up condition,” for being as old as it now is. There are still a few of the people living there who have lived there now for going on 60 years. The old Young’s Restaurant is now gone, as is Guinther School. Highland Park School has been torn down and replaced by Sam Salem Elementary. Many of the people who helped to shape my early life as good friends and good neighbors have now passed on.
I could go on and on. There are so many memories, and so many stories to tell. For me, it is always nice, but somewhat poignant to go “back to my roots.”