Memories

As a child, going downtown with mom was a treat. We would catch the bus down the block from our house and in minutes, (though it seemed much longer to me in my excitement), arrive downtown. We would go to J.C. Penney's, maybe Zahn's and then almost always, a stop at Woolworth's and their soda fountain, for a strawberry sundae! It came in one of those tall shake glasses. I remember lots of times I couldn't finish that big sundae, but I'd sure gave it a try! Those strawberries were so good! To drink, I would sometimes have an orange soda, maybe it was Crush. That was the only kind of soda I could handle, and even that was hard for me to drink. The carbonation would always burn my throat. But I wanted to have an orange soda anyhow! Woolworth's, a memory intact and a store long gone.

As a young adult, mom and I would run around town doing various things, that's after she finally got her driver's license at 50 something! One of our favorite stops for lunch was the Big Boy's restaurant. I don't recall my favorite food there, but I do know my favorited desert! Cheesecake! Loved it! Had to have it everytime we were there! The best cheesecake I have ever had! Big Boy's, a memory intact, a restaurant long gone from this city.

Some of those various things we would do are go rummaging and go to craft fairs. Mom was a very crafty lady in her later years, maybe 60's on up. She took up tole painting and painted many lovely items. She would shop the rummage sales for wood items that she could put her touch to with her painting. She also took up quilting and made some beautiful items of all sizes, and most of them were very difficult too, not just patchwork. And her sewing! She did most of her sewing by hand! Making microscopic stitches that just boggled my mind, and even, they were even in size and spacing! Amazing! Skills that have long since been let go of as the years cloud into the mind.

Collections! She collected frog stuff and owl stuff and painting stuff and quilting stuff and recipe stuff and stuff stuff! These days she likes angels and large porcelain angel dolls. Most things are insignificant to her. Just the basics are important.

One of our once a year favorite stops was Long Grove, IL. This was an old fashioned little town whose homes and buildings were turned into all kinds of shops. There was a wonderful confectionary, a bakery, (the smell!) and our always favorite, the Apple house where you could, at the right time see them make apple cider. And you always had to buy some fresh cider, especially in the sippy apples! Fresh baked apple treats were always available as well, and be sure to have a sample of their featured bakery item! Oh! and the herb shop! What an explosion to the senses! Even if we didn't buy a thing, we had to go in there and breathe deeply! I almost forgot, the 'Irish' store, where the best homemade Irish soda bread ever exists! We always bought 1 or 2 loaves of that! There are antique shops, toy shops, craft shops, on and on. It is such a fun place to go, and a very busy place to go during the tourist season! We've taken the kids with, taken the husband with, but the best times were with just me and mom.

We took a trip almost every summer, it was mom's way of escaping my grandma, whose house we lived in! We would return to her home town in Ohio, or go out to Oregon to visit relatives. My favorite memories are riding in the double deck train through the mountains, seeing the majestic Mount Hood rise out of the lake as we rounded the bend. Going to the redwood forest in Calif. during our Oregon visit and standing inside the huge redwoods. My mom telling the man in front of me, as we were getting off the bus somewhere, "Could you please move and let her through, she is going to be sick!" He didn't... and I did... be sick... all over the back of his nice suit. She warned him, right?

Most are wispy memories now, except these few I have shared with you.