Who Says You Can't Go Home?

I grew up in Lakewood. I lived in the red house on Sloane Ave, four houses down from my grandparents’ home. I walked to McKinley and Horace Mann and graduated from LHS in 1976.

My mom also graduated from Lakewood in 1941. Her family owned Krumreig Marina on the Rocky River. They operated two 55’ steel hulled fishing boats named the Helen K & Mary K, where I spent hours perch and walleye fishing, watching fireworks and swimming in Lake Erie.

My dad taught fourth and fifth grades at Garfield Elementary from 1969 – 1982. Among other things, he was known for his “Unger Book of Records” and buckeye trees. Since the buckeye is the state tree for Ohio, my dad was inspired to collect and grow these trees with his students to take home and plant. When Garfield school was slated to be torn down and rebuilt, my dad influenced the decision to save the historic façade of the school and incorporate it into the new school. A buckeye tree was planted in his honor in front of the new Garfield. He was inducted into the Lakewood Teachers Hall of Fame.  

After graduation I worked as a hairdresser on both the east and west sides of Cleveland. Twelve years ago I moved to Florida and opened a small Pilates studio. Family and friends from NEO visited often but I rarely came “home.” Although I was proud to have grown up in this area, I had a full life in Florida and took advantage of traveling to Europe, the Bahamas and various states, rather than return to Ohio.

As my life took twists and turns, the things I took for granted, became what I missed. With my parents aging and my family growing with great nieces and nephews, I began missing family holidays and milestones. Additionally, I missed the numerous great restaurants, bars, unique family businesses, Metro Parks, Lakewood recreation programs, festivals….the list goes on. I longed for the older homes with front porches, perennial gardens and sidewalks so lacking in Florida. So I did what my gut told me…..I moved back.

For anyone who has ever moved, you appreciate the task. Anyone who has moved across several states understands the task, expense and challenges expand…A LOT. Leaving a tropical environment to be welcomed by the harsh winter of 2013, left many questioning my sanity. For me however, I basked in the love and nurturing of my family and friends.  This city’s warm embrace is tangible too. It’s reassuring to see the same businesses thriving while new businesses open. The city has done a commendable job balancing the development, at least for the most part. More importantly, Lakewood residents take pride in their diversity, get involved and educate themselves on the issues. The Lakewood Observer has been a great source of information for me as I navigate my new life here.

My parents still live in Lakewood at Bloom Assisted Living, formerly the Northwesterly. I teach a Pilates class there on Thursdays, and the residents are forever taking me down memory lane. It’s so fun seeing childhood friends’ parents, whose homes I once frequented. Some share stories of how my father was their son’s Boy Scout leader or teacher. One woman proclaimed that her son was my father’s favorite student. I asked how she knew that and she answered, “Because my son was the only student who could tell your dad where a buckeye tree was located in Lakewood.”

Often I meet someone who remembers my family home from the Nelson & Clark Fair, an annual event my brother and cousin hosted every year in our back yard. Others remember seeing my mom in the yard watering or weeding her garden. These days she tends a small garden at Bloom.

My mother shared her love of gardening with me. She taught me to nurture the roots so a plant could come back year after year. She still has a tropical hibiscus that was given to her as a cutting by a woman on the bus. Forty years later that plant grows in my parent’s apartment.

I’ve always been like wildflowers, allowing the wind to blow my seeds to new locations for a season before moving on. What I’ve learned this past year is that wildflowers grow best in the fertile soil of home, fertilized by the comfort of family and community.