A Dayful of Memories

We sadly departed from Russell saying good by to Cindy and Jim. We are hoping to return next year to Taryn and Neil's wedding. Thank you Cindy for taking me to your manicurist to have my nail repaired. Yesterday at the lake I smashed my hand on the gate and a nail snapped off (Ouch!!). I have another 21 days--so it would have really bothered me. (I still am wondering how my nails will look at the end of this).
Her manicurist lives in the same neighborhood as Cindy and Jim and has a salon in an old converted garage the sits behind her house. She even has tanning beds. Her salon looks very nice and contemporary.

We spent the day reliving Bill's memories. We drove to Beloit where Bill's grandparents lived and where Bill had a lot of fond memories. We saw the farm which is quite different than he remembers. All that remains is the old garage and chicken coops.
We went to the community swimming pool and they allowed us to go in and take pictures. Bill also took a picture of the stream where his brother Doug pulled him up out of the water spill and Bill scraped his finger so badly that a scar still remains on that finger.
His aunt and uncle's old house is now deserted so we were able to walk around and look inside and take pictures.
We walked into the high school that Bill Sr. attended and took pictures of the Trojan that sits on the football field. As we approached to take a picture of the statue we ran into the grounds keeper who had just finished repainting it. Talk about timing! He was just washing his brush.
We went to the cemetary where his grandparents and aunt and uncle are buried. I love reading the old tombstones that stand upright rather than lie flat on the ground.
I found it to be amusing that in Beloit the Senior Center is in an old converted church..right across the street from the city's funeral home.
Next we drove to Salina where Bill grew up. We visited two houses--one is gone and is now condos. When we approached the other house he couldn't remember the address--even Doug didn't remember. We visited both elementary schools but one of them was converted to a business building. I found it interesting that it intersected with "Mulberry Street" (of Dr. Seuss fame). Bill has memories of being a student crossing guard--a very important job in the 6th grade! Today the other elementary school is being used as a red cross station because there was a big chemical explosion in Wichita and people needed to evacuate.

Bill took pictures of the baseball field where he has a lot of fond memories.

We are on our way to Brookville Restaurant which is no longer in Brookville but in Abilene. Brookville is a quaint town in the middle of nowhere but was famous for its old inn which served only one thing--a family style chicken dinner. The last time we came 15 years ago I was so impressed. Every single dish on the menu was exceptional--the home style fried chicken,cole slaw, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. Now we'll see how it is since it changed locations.

I have loved spending time with Bill today and watching his excitement as he relived his old fond memories.