Places

"There are places I remember all my life,
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone, and some remain

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all"

From "In My Life" by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Pictured  above left:  Robert Mills on the steps of the old Union High School building, demolished in 1959.

In my life I have lived in three places.  Mississippi was my home for 22 years, Georgia for 15 years & Virginia for more than 23 years.  People ask me which I consider home.  My answer is that I am a part of every place that I have been.  They are all home.  Somehow I think we must also be a part of the places of those who came before us.  When we first moved to Virginia, one sunny afternoon I lay in the grass of my backyard staring up at the ancient trees towering over me.  Even though I had resisted the move from Atlanta, at that moment I felt a part of everything around me.  I walked inside the house, approached my husband and declared, "I feel an affinity with the soil.  I think my ancestors came from here."  He replied that I was nuts.  Eventually it was proven that I was right and he was wrong.  As early as 1620 my father's family had lived just across Hampton Roads on the Tidewater Peninsula.  They had whispered this to me that day through the branches of the rustling trees.  This section is dedicated to the places where they were... and where I have been.  May we never forget.

Cincinnati    (Hamilton Co, OH)