Sentimental Sunday: Ohio, Different But Somehow The Same

This post will feel a bit self-indulgent to me but I want to do it nonetheless. I'm going to tell you about a trip Mom, my brother and sis-in-law and I took to Cleveland in 2007. I'm so very glad we went then. The next year I was in an auto accident and it took about two years to completely recover, except for the bad left knee that still troubles. And Mom is older now, but shh, don't tell her. Heck, we're all older and happy we took the trip when we did! So this will be a photo essay showing and telling about out time out of time in and around Cleveland. Think I'll do this in three parts so as not to overwhelm.

Some background first. Dad and Mom lived in the small mountain town of Frostburg in Western Maryland. They were both born and raised there and lived there during WWII. After the war, Dad took a job in management at a plastics plant near Cleveland and you can read about it here.

From about 1952 to 1964 we lived in three towns in Ohio: Chagrin Falls, Maple Heights, and then Hudson. Our adventure in 2007 retraced those steps. So here it is, my travel log back in time. First stop, Hudson, Ohio, a little village founded in 1799, and plenty of history under its belt. The underground railroad ran through here and this is the birthplace of John Brown. A large area of central Hudson is listed on the National Register of Historic Places... and I think I remember that the building code was pretty strict. Everything just looks colonial! Hudson still has plenty of those elements that make it so darn charming: a very colonial flavor to the homes and commercial buildings, a big town square, clock tower to chime the hours, tree lined streets, good schools, and a church of most varieties! Picture perfect!

My time in Hudson was during those high school years. As a new kid into the high school mix, it was pretty rough going. Trying to fit in was a full time job. Luckily, it was a small school and eventually a couple of the girls and I made friends. The in crowd were a group of girls who all went to grade school together and were real closed to newcomers. (Did they make a movie about this? Feels like it!) Now, all these years later some of us are in email contact, and it was interesting to discover high school wasn't a bowl of cherries for anyone, even that close knit group! High school... how was yours?

The town square where the annual Ice Cream Social was held every summer.

A typical Hudson street with colorful fall trees.

Our old soda fountain haunt. Look, that's the same counter and stools!

The Clock Tower on the square.

 

The Catholic Church in Hudson. Still the same after all this time.

The house where we lived in the 1960s. Funny, it seemed so much larger then.

My old high school, Hudson High. 

Our class will be having our 50th reunion next year! Say it can't be so!!

The walk up to the big front entrance of ol' Hudson High.

Yeah, I lost it right here and started tearing up.

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