A Visit "Home"

I am at a point in my life where I consider home to be wherever Golfer and I are.  And hopefully, that is also where we have our family close by.  Having said that, "home" has always been Ohio in our minds.  It's where we were both born and raised.  Ohio is a lovely state. 

Golfer's career with the Air Force and then Civil Service took us all around and we were fortunate enough to live and visit many places and learn new things. We are thankful for that.  Since we have been in Virginia since 1979, Virginia is where we call "home" now.  "Home" is a state of  mind.

We just returned from Ohio, a happy occasion for this trip!  Our niece's wedding!  The last few trips to Ohio had been for sad occasions - visiting ailing family and attending funerals.  So this was a happy trip.  The wedding was lovely, the weather was great, the bride was beautiful, and we got to visit with family we hadn't seen in years!  Nurse J and Bikini were there with their families, too.

As good as all this was, and all the smiles and happy times, there was something sad about the trip.  I get emotional.  There are loved ones that have passed on that we miss.  Things that used to be there when we were growing up aren't around any more.  Too many things change.  Time moves on.

Golfer and I sort of have a routine when we are there.  We like to visit the Cleveland Indians store.  It is no longer there.  We like to go to the Brewster Dairy and buy wonderful Swiss cheese.  That store hasn't been there for years.  We have to go to the grocery store where Golfer worked as a teenager and buy our cheese.  We like to go to the Nickels Bakery store and stock up on Crème Sticks.  We were told on this trip that the bakery had stopped making Crème Sticks in January!  How totally disappointing!  I sent them an email.  :)      

We drove by the farm where Golfer grew up and the trees have gotten so big that you can hardly see the house on the hill.  We went by the cemetery and paid our respects to loved ones.  And I made sure there wasn't any bird poo on my Mom's headstone.  She always made me promise to check if I was ever there.

I have my emotions in check now and life is good.  Stay safe!