Daymaker - a person who performs acts of kindness with the intention of making the world a better place.
~ David Wagner
, author of Life as a Daymaker; how to change the world by making someone's day ~

DayMaker - any thought, word, or deed that spreads happiness, compassion, or fruitful ideas.
~ Annis Cassells ~

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

C is for Columbus



Columbus was my mother’s girlhood hometown; our family moved there in my 3rd grade year, after my grandmother died. It was 1951, and in those days, a widower did not live alone. So my parents chose to move from their life in Detroit to Columbus, Ohio, to accommodate my grandfather. My mother would become the lady of the house in her parents’ home.
 
Papaw and Nanaw moved to Columbus when Mom was a teenager. She graduated from East High School among new friends as well as old friends who had also relocated to Columbus. Marrying my dad took her to Detroit in the early 40s.

We settled into the big house on Mooberry Street; it was twice the size of the small apartment that we’d had.  My six-year-old brother Tom and I loved tip-toeing up the stairs and sliding down the banister when no adults were in sight.  There was a laundry chute in the upstairs hallway. We’d open the square door, pitch the dirty clothes in and watch them  fall and land in the clothes basket that sat in the basement below the opening. A huge ringer washer stood nearby, mute on its four legs, waiting until Monday morning to do its work. 

As kids, our time in Columbus was carefree. Tom and I played in the back yard, ate fresh tomatoes from the bushel basket that sat on the back porch, and roamed the neighborhood with our band of buddies. Neighbors were friendly but to be obeyed. We had no fear of being harmed or kidnapped and were free to be kids, to explore life, learn important lessons, and have fun. 
Reenie and me in our matching "sister dresses"
Taking a cue from the westerns on Saturday morning television, a posse of neighborhood kids would grab our stick rifles and pony up on our Schwinn two-wheelers, heading for the end of Mooberry Street. There we would relive the stories we’d watched on the screen. Good guys, bad guys, we all rode and played hard, practicing life on the range.


Columbus was an important place in my growth and development. It’s where I learned some important life lessons, like “Don’t smoke” and “Always tell the truth” and “You can’t fool your parents.” 
  
Living in Columbus, we got to know more of our family on both sides. Evenings, our uncles on our mom’s side were close by, tinkering with cars out back in their garage. We spent every Saturday with our four cousins, watching a weekly circus show and western serials. Some of our dad’s siblings lived nearby, so we were able to spend time with those cousins, too.
Tom, Reenie, and Aunt Lucille (circa 1953)
Our sister Reenié was just a toddler in those Columbus days, but Tom and I still remember them with fondness.

~ xoA ~

20 comments:

  1. I love the ABC writing challenge! So much fun to read about your life in Columbus. Life was so much more simple then...Your story brings back memories from my childhood. Thanks!

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  2. Thank you, Kate. It's been fun for me, too. And, yes, things were so easy then, compared to now. I'm glad to have stirred your childhood memories. xoA

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  3. Your writing so often stirs other memories--you have a gift. I had a friend who went to Ohio State and insisted on calling the city "Ko-lum-BOOS," I don't know why. Years later I was based out of Cincinnati (with Procter & Gamble) and no one referred to Columbus in such a silly manner. I regret to say that I never spent time there, only in Cincy and Cleveland.

    It seemed that your proximity to your grandfather was time well spent, with many life-lessons learned. How wonderful.

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    1. Thanks for your encouraging words, Davyd. That was a precious time with our grandfather. xoA

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  5. P.S.: We had a laundry chute--did you ever slide down it? Just last week my sister talked about how our older brother made her go down when she too big and she got stuck. She blames her mild claustrophobia on that incident.

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    1. Isn't it fun when those memories crop up? I never slid down ours; it seemed such a long way to fall from the 2nd floor to the basement. xoA

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  8. Hi Annis, I just discovered your writing challenge today (been out of the blog loop for a month or so) and this post is wonderful. There is so much warmth in your descriptions of life in Columbus that it just makes the reader feel good. As for that laundry chute, we have a very small laundry chute in our house that my 2-year-old granddaughter just discovered this week as she plopped a board book down it to see what would happen. I wonder what else she's going to try to send down that chute when we're not looking? :-) Happy Friday.

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    1. Hi, Kathleen. Welcome back to the blog loop. Thanks for your encouraging comments and sharing the story of your granddaughter's discovery. Have a great weekend, yourself. xoA

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  9. I love the pictures (and your fond words) but I wish I had access to more of my grandparents' pictures. I want to attach a face (from yesteryear) to their stories. It's much easier to picture my grandpa causing mischief with a youthful face instead of his arthritic body today. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Hi, Clarissa. Thanks for your kind comments. I happened to have some old photos from an album of pictures I took with my old Kodak Brownie in the early 50s that I scanned. I was so pleased when I looked into the file and found these. xoA

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  10. My best friend is from Ohio. She grew up in Mason. She always talks about how Kings Island is practically in her back yard. i have been to Springboro, Cincy, Loveland, Cleveland and Dayton but I have never been to Columbus. Great Post!

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    1. Thanks, Donnee. When I go back to Columbus nowadays, I hardly recognize the place. xoA

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  11. Such warm and lovely memories...I always seem to hear negative stories about moving during childhood...it's really nice to see another perspective...memories of family doing for family, the opportunities afforded by the move, renewed familial connections, neighborhood fun, etc. I like this post a lot.

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  12. Thank you, Anna. Our brief time in Columbus made a huge impact on my life. Interestingly, it wasn't until I began writing about it that I realized how big it was. xoA

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  13. Thank you, Anna. Our brief time in Columbus made a huge impact on my life. Interestingly, it wasn't until I began writing about it that I realized how big it was. xoA

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  14. Annis,
    I love the way you retell special memories from your life. I also wondered if you slid down the laundry chute, but that was answered.

    I love this sentence,"A huge ringer washer stood nearby, mute on its four legs, waiting until Monday morning to do its work." Brings so many visions of a quiet machine waiting to be tasked it's chores.

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful stories.

    Joan

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    1. Thanks a lot for your comments, Joan. That washing machine sentence was one of my favorites, too. I remember when Monday was wash day; Tuesday was ironing day. xoA

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