Back to the Ohio

BACK TO THE OHIO


I’ve been to the big city, and I’ve come back to North Central Ohio.

I’ve been to the fantastic arts and cultural entertainment opportunities in those bigger cities, only to come back and find similar enrichment right back home.

My parents were native Kentuckians who were transplanted to the coal fields of West Virginia. They left their extended family members to look for a place that would afford better employment and opportunities for education. This is where they settled. And, after living in some of those bigger towns, I came back and settled here, too.

This is where my husband and I wanted to raise our family. And, we did.

Raising four children on a single income was not always easy, but it was possible. While my husband worked, I found good ways to stretch our budget. Farmer’s markets, pick-your-own strawberries and apples, raising some vegetables and fruit on our own helped us make ends meet. Opportunities for stretching our imagination and learning existed in library programs and book sales, nature centers and heritage festivals. Watching fireworks and being part of a parade contributed to our patriotism.

On those rare days when all six of us were home together, we drove short distances to see how people who seemed to come from a different era of time live their lives. We breakfasted by a covered bridge in the forest, camped and roasted day-old donuts in our own backyard while looking up and making shapes out of the clouds. At night, we would marvel at the constellations that can only be seen when it’s completely dark – something one misses in the city.

Now those children are gone – mostly off to bigger cities. But, how they enjoy coming home! It has been such a joy to hear them reminisce on those events of their childhood, and how they want the same for their families.

It’s just the two of us now. We live in a different day and age than when we raised our children, and certainly from when we ourselves were children. News comes to us daily of terrorism threats, violent weather, violence between people, and the degrading of moral values. Certainly those calamities have reached into our little part of the world. But, living in a tranquil area helps me to be able to handle bad news – no matter where or who it comes from.

So, North Central Ohio is where I’ll stay. It’s home to me. It’s home to my family. And, when out of state friends come to visit with the challenge to “show me Ohio”, this is where I bring them.

A wise man recently said that “the world sees peace as being without conflict or pain. But, we can have peace amidst the conflict.” Ohio is a place where that is possible, both in our lives and in our own homes.

It all begins with us. And what better place to start than right here, right now, in North Central Ohio?