Going Home Again

Story ID:	2460
Written by:	Carol J Garriott
Organization:	home/retired
Story type:	Musings, Essays and Such
Location:	Emporia Kansas USA
Year:	2007
Person:	Carol McGhee Garriott

Willie, Waylon, Vince, and Kenny G brought me home to Coastal Texas from Kansas last month, after my semi-annual visit to family. A radio station featuring my preferred artists is not always readily available on the road, so I assure myself of pleasing company by packing my favorite CDs.



Also on this trip I attended my 55th high school reunion, the first visit with my classmates since graduation. It was tremendous fun getting reacquainted, and hearing what everyone had been up to for 55 years.



School and graduation were in tiny nearby Madison, but we gathered at the American Legion Hall in Emporia, Kansas, the town where I spent the 17 years of married life. Traveling from my sister’s home near Wichita, I arrived in Emporia early enough to drive around a bit and see if I could locate the places I had lived.



I found one of our houses, that my husband and his father had built. It was occupied and still looking presentable. The other places were either long gone, or the neighborhood had changed so much I didn’t recognize them. Brought back lots of memories, both good and not so good.



In this town I had been a card assembler at Hallmark Cards, church secretary, executive secretary to the Art Dept. head at Kansas State Teacher’s College, then typesetter and page-makeup artist at the same College.



In this town I swam and sunned at the city pool, rode my bike to and from work to the tune of 8 miles a day, bowled my way to numerous awards, crowned by placing 28th nationally in the Women’s Singles in Las Vegas, made lifelong friends, and generally learned to be a self-sufficient, independent woman, gaining confidence in just about everything to which I set my mind.



I considered going pro with the bowling at one time, as I carried an average around 165, and one requirement to hit the pro circuit was an average of 180. I figured if I worked at it, I could achieve that. But one really needed a spouse for financial support, as likely it would be awhile before one could start winning tournaments. Since I was also contemplating divorcing the husband, it seemed a better option to remain employed. It was one of those forks in the road that lead us, I suspect, in the direction we should go.



My childhood with parents and older sisters gave me values and belief in myself that sustained me well, in good times and bad. The formative, growing, and learning years in this town of Emporia were the bridge between that childhood and my mature life ahead. When I headed for Texas to further the typesetting career, sans husband, I literally never looked back.



They say you can’t go home again. Well, you can visit, certainly. You can reminisce. You can remember.



And that’s a very good thing.



Photos:
The Church Secretary
The Swimmer
The Bowler. Carol on the right, with other local winners.
The Bowler. Carol on the left, with doubles bowling partner.