A Childhood in Ohio

This past year I've been jotting down my childhood memories. For my birthday today I decided to begin to post them. Here's one snippet.

I grew up in the house on 2939 Martindale Blvd in Columbus. It was a ranch style home situated between the Olentangy River Road and the Olentangy River. Up the road a quarter mile was our church building and Riverside Hospital, and down the road was Whetstone High School where my big brother Dean went to school. We lived in that house until I was ten years old. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist anymore because the state knocked it down in the 70s to build a freeway. I have fond memories of my childhood there. My neighbors that lived directly across the street were Mr. and Mrs. Granville Smith. They were an older, childless couple. Mrs. Smith was quite petite and very sweet. You could see a little space between her two front teeth when she smiled. Mr. Smith worked for the Audubon Society. He actually took me on my very first “date”: I was about six years old when we he invited me to a Audubon Society meeting and nature movie. Their house was like having a zoo and a museum in the neighborhood. His study was full of stuffed birds, bird talons, and butterflies, along with other insects pinned in shadow boxes. Field guides lined the bookshelves and pictures of wildlife covered the walls. That room was extremely fascinating to me. They also had a pet Toucan, which I loved to hold and feed. In the living room they had an amazing view from the picture window that was perfect for looking out of the telescope at wildlife into their backyard which was graced with a grand old oak tree. The end of their yard became the Olentangy River, where I did a lot of fishing for crayfish and searching for other rocky treasures. I spent a lot of time with them and I remember details of their home extremely well. In their bathroom they had a closet with shelves on a carousel that turned around into a space for the attic. It was just big enough for me to fit inside. They must have ask me to fetch something or put something away because I have no idea why I would have known about that cubby space, but that closet became the answer to all my greatest fears. I remember plotting out emergency getaways for what I would do if a robber broke in my house. I had it all worked out: I would run as fast as I could over to the Smith’s house and hide in their secret cubby until it was safe to come out. It gave such peace of mind to a young girl’s over active imagination! I was always a little puzzled, though, as to why Mr. and Mrs. Smith slept in twin beds. I thought this rather odd because I thought all married people slept together in a big bed, like my mom and dad. The last time I saw the Smiths was probably forty years ago. I often wonder what happened to them. With no children, everything was probably left to the birds.