America Discovers Columbus & I Discover You Can't Go Back

What a day. A day of no fighting, but not a day without tears. Mind you, I did well and have been enjoying learning more about Columbus and it's surrounds until Blog Paws got under way early this evening.

We starting out innocently trying to find a cool “foodie” quality place for breakfast. Sam and I both abhor eating at a hotel, partially because of the prices (they got ya, so they charge for it) and the food is usually not very inspired.

I found two choices. We headed towards one. Golden Donut & Diner. Just sounds yummy, right? We were both starving and ready to stuff ourselves. Not having a map, we gave the GPS the address and headed out. No sooner than we left our little part of town, we hit not a house or a block, but a NEIGHBORHOOD of boarded up, run down, empty single family homes, duplexes, and row houses. It was shocking. It broke my heart. I had no idea such hard times had fallen on Columbus. We kept driving down street after street. We saw maybe one or two people out. It was like the town had given up and either moved away or died. I saw a “For Sale” sign on a home. It was a cute, Craftsman style bungalow. $10,000.00. YES, TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. Rough shape or not, all the other homes around it were empty and closed up. I felt terrible seeing this. This is not the America I live in. It's shameful. How did we let our fellow citizens down?

We found the diner, but I was too nervous to eat there. I should have done it and I feel badly. We found our second choice about a mile away. It's called, First Watch and the food was good. Really hit the spot.

As I watched the diners take their seats and eat their meals, I was tempted to ask them to tell me what happened to their town? But as Sam pointed out-this didn't happen over night. Whatever happened has been going on for a long time. Maybe I'm the last to know. I need to look into this situation further. I still intend on rescuing every cat I can, but these folks need some help, too.

Today I went home. 40 years ago I lived in Marysville, Ohio. I haven't been back there since I was 16. It's hard to look back on a place where you had a family that is now gone. To see it through the eyes of an adult. To wish you could go back and warn the little girl, who lived there, to love her parents more and to cherish each moment because they don't last forever.

I saw the Nestlè plant where my Father worked. I saw the garage where I stood with my Mother, across the street, waiting to pick my dad up during a bad thunderstorm. There was a big oak tree across the street. It got hit by lightning and the tree top exploded. The tree is long gone, but I remember it.

Near the old entrance to Nestlè where we waiting for my Father. To the right in the grass, was where the huge tree stood.

I saw my old house. 911 Sherwood Avenue. I got very choked up seeing it. I didn't expect that. The house is almost exactly the same. The color is a bit different. The tree out front is huge, but other than that, it's still a nice house in a nice, if a bit tired neighborhood. I remember riding my bike and running between the houses. I had no idea what would come to pass. Now I can't help but think, this will probably be the last time I ever go to Marysville. I will go on with my life knowing the house is still there, but the family that was my true treasure is long gone now and seeing it again was a grim reminder.

Home.

My God life is short.

Note: I had fully intended on writing about Blog Paws tonight since I've met so many nice people and want them to all love my blog should they stop by to visit it...but the events of the day wore too heavily on my heart and I just had to write about them. I hope you understand and check back tomorrow. I have my big 10 MINUTE presentation to give in the morning and a story to go with it (hopefully not one of being heckled or booed or forgetting what I was supposed to talk about!)