What I'll miss about Wooster, take one
What I’ll miss about Wooster (in no particular order after #1):
1. Students—the reason we have always been here. We are fond of saying that we’re glad to see them come in August and glad to see them go in May, but by the next August we’re always ready for the next batch.
2. Seeing Amish buggies clip-clopping down Beall Ave. or hitched to the post in front of Wal-Mart.
3. The crab apple trees, the azaleas and rhodendendron, and then the roses in the OARDC arboretum.
4. My deck…sitting there to read and/or study, entertaining small and large groups of people there. Enjoying the serenity of the back yard from there. What I will NOT miss is staining it every other year (and for the partial third time this go-around before we leave).
5. Peter, Victor, Judah, Benjamin, Aubrey and Johanna and my weekly Sunday hugs from at least one of them. (The boys are getting our advent log as we do not have a place to use it without a baby grand piano. Being Lutheran at heart, their parents are thrilled.) I’ll miss meeting Aubrey’s new sibling this fall as well as Julie and Jon’s first child (most likely a girl, but even after the “definitive ultra sound, they are only saying “fifty-fifty chance.” ☺).
6. Being able to drive up and have a nice young man (or gal) put my groceries into the car for me at the Buehler’s Milltown conveyor belt. Having Ryan D. put them in the car for me at the downtown Buehler’s.
7. The new public library—spacious, gracious, fantastic. One of our first stops in G.R. is at the library to get cards. Chuck has managed to read three novels this week as well as to pack (but that’s another story).
8. The drive down through Holmes County to my favorite (only) stitchery store. I don’t know yet where I’ll replace that store in G.R.
9. Meeting our pastor and wife for a quick supper and prayer update each Wednesday possible. Making new friends will be our biggest challenge.
10. My garden. However, it has gotten too large, or rather, I have gotten too old, to care for it properly, so I am looking forward to gardening on a smaller scale in G.R.
11. My Monday lunch-bunch of retired COW friends.
12. My book club, recently re-joined. However, many churches in G.R. have book clubs, so I am not worried about finding one. The women in it when I was just a young whippersnapper have been my role models these many years.
13. Occasional lunches after church with dear friends at El Campesino. I always order # 3 and Chuck # 5. We went today with Julie, Jon, Annie and Hannah and missed Mark and Beth—but remembered our times with them as well.
14. Interfaith dialogue, especially with Joan, and others through the Office of InterFaith Campus Ministries. Finding a church that values and supports such interaction is important to us.
15. The sound of bagpipes in the distance.
16. The sound of bagpipes and the rest of the band as they turn back towards the stand for the last part of their half-time show.
17. Wooster-Wittenberg basketball games.
18. Wooster-anyone basketball games.
19. Living in a town that gives dogwood trees to all its first graders and magnolias to all its fifth graders.
20. The kind of easy driving that living in a small town affords.
1. Students—the reason we have always been here. We are fond of saying that we’re glad to see them come in August and glad to see them go in May, but by the next August we’re always ready for the next batch.
2. Seeing Amish buggies clip-clopping down Beall Ave. or hitched to the post in front of Wal-Mart.
3. The crab apple trees, the azaleas and rhodendendron, and then the roses in the OARDC arboretum.
4. My deck…sitting there to read and/or study, entertaining small and large groups of people there. Enjoying the serenity of the back yard from there. What I will NOT miss is staining it every other year (and for the partial third time this go-around before we leave).
5. Peter, Victor, Judah, Benjamin, Aubrey and Johanna and my weekly Sunday hugs from at least one of them. (The boys are getting our advent log as we do not have a place to use it without a baby grand piano. Being Lutheran at heart, their parents are thrilled.) I’ll miss meeting Aubrey’s new sibling this fall as well as Julie and Jon’s first child (most likely a girl, but even after the “definitive ultra sound, they are only saying “fifty-fifty chance.” ☺).
6. Being able to drive up and have a nice young man (or gal) put my groceries into the car for me at the Buehler’s Milltown conveyor belt. Having Ryan D. put them in the car for me at the downtown Buehler’s.
7. The new public library—spacious, gracious, fantastic. One of our first stops in G.R. is at the library to get cards. Chuck has managed to read three novels this week as well as to pack (but that’s another story).
8. The drive down through Holmes County to my favorite (only) stitchery store. I don’t know yet where I’ll replace that store in G.R.
9. Meeting our pastor and wife for a quick supper and prayer update each Wednesday possible. Making new friends will be our biggest challenge.
10. My garden. However, it has gotten too large, or rather, I have gotten too old, to care for it properly, so I am looking forward to gardening on a smaller scale in G.R.
11. My Monday lunch-bunch of retired COW friends.
12. My book club, recently re-joined. However, many churches in G.R. have book clubs, so I am not worried about finding one. The women in it when I was just a young whippersnapper have been my role models these many years.
13. Occasional lunches after church with dear friends at El Campesino. I always order # 3 and Chuck # 5. We went today with Julie, Jon, Annie and Hannah and missed Mark and Beth—but remembered our times with them as well.
14. Interfaith dialogue, especially with Joan, and others through the Office of InterFaith Campus Ministries. Finding a church that values and supports such interaction is important to us.
15. The sound of bagpipes in the distance.
16. The sound of bagpipes and the rest of the band as they turn back towards the stand for the last part of their half-time show.
17. Wooster-Wittenberg basketball games.
18. Wooster-anyone basketball games.
19. Living in a town that gives dogwood trees to all its first graders and magnolias to all its fifth graders.
20. The kind of easy driving that living in a small town affords.
posted by Barb @ 11:59 AM
7 Comments:
At 4:50 PM,
Ellen said…
There's nothing quite like #16 - I miss it too.
At 9:29 PM,
mle said…
OK, now you've got me crying...
At 9:18 AM,
Anonymous said…
Yes, this is a nostalgia attack, for sure. As for crying, I think I've been so busy that I can't let myself (except for worship on Sunday that Julie led--and chose the hymns and choruses partly with us in mind). We'll see what happens when we finally arrive in G.R. You're always welcome, you know!!
At 11:08 AM,
Anonymous said…
RE: #1:
I am happy to inform you that Calvin College also has many students!
Calvin might also be able to provide near-acceptable substitutes for nos. 17,18...
At 1:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
Yes, dear nephew, Calvin has students, but we won't have the kind of relationships we have had here with students with them--Chuck will only be there for a year, I not at all, and there's no IVCF chapter. As for 17 and 18, we're looking forward to Calvin basketball :) The WCFers gave us Wooster basketball seats and we have our old gold and black shirts emblazened with Wooster logos, just so our ultimate loyalties won't be mistaken!
At 3:39 PM,
Bruce S said…
Re: #7. Does you new public library actually have new books?
In Poway, they made a big deal about the new library but I never went back when I discovered that is was all the same lame old books at a new address with new carpet.
At 8:56 PM,
Anonymous said…
Yes, I understand that the children's section expanded four-fold and they bought new books for at least some of the space. There's an interesting looking library south of 44th on K-zoo that will be our first choice. I've never been inside, but it's spacious from the outside. For the next few months, though, I must slog through all the readings for my Seminar in Christian Scholarship course....Chuck, on the other hand, can indulge his summer novel reading habit.
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