Friday, November 11, 2011

My Hometown- BFF 140


      My hometown lies a short 15 miles away from the home of the fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame.  Is it any wonder that it was almost considered sacrilegious to be doing anything else but rooting the team onto victory on a fall Saturday afternoon??  That was how it was at my house anyways.  My mom was a huge fan and demanded life stopped as we knew it for every football game.  We all dressed in Notre Dame apparel, and celebrated each touchdown as if we had personally won the key to the golden crapper.


        Located 110 miles east of Chicago in the heart of the Midwest, Elkhart was mostly populated by Indians around the turn of the 19th century.  In 1829 the village of Pulaski was established on the northern banks of the St. Joseph River.  A couple years later  Dr. Havilah Beardsley moved from Ohio and purchased a square mile of land from the Potawatomi Indian chief Pierre Moran.  Shortly there after Elkhart was born.  Some say the town was named after Indian chief Elkhart, still others claim it has more to do with the shape of Island park in town.  Because of it’s resemblance of an elk’s heart, a bunch of local artists got together and painted elks that were placed all over the county.  Some of them were really cool and exhibited the true spirit of the community, the industry that gives inhabitants their bread and butter, and the culture.   Recently they were taken down and auctioned off for charity.  Although a noble idea, I would have rather they left the elks where they were.  Unfortunately, no one asked me.  I can honestly say that the Indians packed up their teepees by the time I came along although their influence can still be felt in the names adopted for streets, schools, and shopping centers around town.




    
       I was born at the local hospital in 1968.  Except for a short stint in college and 11 years when I was first married, I have lived in Elkhart all my life.  It is funny.  While in high school, most folks couldn’t wait to get out of town and explore the world.  I was no different.  Still my roots led me back.  My parents  were born and raised here as well, and their presence held the most appeal to me.  I longed to be close to them… and that fact more than anything else drew me back home.


       After living in Nashville, Tennessee I appreciated the fact I knew my home town like the back of my hand.  I didn’t need a road map to find my way from A to B, and I didn’t have to deal with rush hour traffic on the interstate to get where I was going.  Being a person that don’t do change well, it makes sense my life would be lived out here where it began watching my kids grow up in the same landscape I did.    
  
         In the end, I have thrived in the familiar.  Sure it is fun to visit and see other places, but those places will never be home.   I have only lived 4 different places in my life, and I learned when I moved that home was more than a house or the town I lived in.  Home was where my family were and where my heart will always be.  Until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a truckers wife.

16 comments:

  1. Sounds like you grew up in a great place. I wish my family had stayed in NY. I was only 10 when we moved to FL, but I've wanted to go back for many years. Doesn't look like it will ever happen now.

    Good blog!

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  2. Darlene, anything is possible!! Thank you for stopping by to read about my hometown. Someday fate may lead you back to NY. I appreciate your kind comments and am so glad you enjoyed reading my blog. :D

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  3. My home town is only about 30 miles away, but it's 50 years since I actually lived there and over the years it has changed so much that I have problems finding my way around sometimes!

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  4. I still live in my hometown, though it's a city of millions. I've ventured to many far off lands, but I always come back here. I do find in my travels that I'm more at home in big cities, always finding the noise and the hustle familiar and comforting.

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  5. Paula, I know what you mean. Things continue to change around my home town too. Although many things remain as they were, there are many places that are no longer including my parent's house. A drugstore stands where I grew up now. Thank you for stopping to read and comment!! I appreciate your kind comments.

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  6. The host, thank you for stopping in to read and comment! I enjoy hearing about your hometown as well!

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  7. I used to live in your hometown, so it was very cool to read this and to see a hometown perspective of it. Nice work.
    P.S. I live like 30 miles from SB, so I know all about the ND mania lol

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  8. Kathy, how cool and what a small world! Thank you for stopping by to read and for your kind comments!! Go Irish!! LOL

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  9. Beautiful photos, beautiful city.

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  10. Leovi, thank you for stopping in to read and for the kind comments!

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  11. It sounds like a wonderful place to live and grow up. Someday, I am going to stop by for a visit. Maybe even take in a Notre Dame game with you and your family. That would be so cool...

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  12. Mary, it is a nice area! You realize it a little more the older you get. Thanks for stopping by to read and comment!

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  13. I know exactly what you mean, Kathy! My heart will always be in Gilroy. I'm fortunate that I'm only 40 minutes away! Nice story. :)

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  14. Beachlover, thank you for stopping by to read and for your kind comments! It amazes me how much more I appreciate my hometown now that I am older. :D

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  15. Not sure how I missed this one! I drive through Indiana every time I head to Nashville and it is one of the LONGEST states in the nation! lol It is very much like Michigan, without ND. This is Wolverine and Sparty country...about 50/50! lol
    Lovely look at your hometown.

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  16. Jo, Indiana is a long state to drive through from north to south. LOL Thanks for stopping in to read and comment on my hometown post!!

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