Rockford (2)

So that was Saturday night, taken up with catching up until 2 a.m. (staying up til 2 a.m. is an easy feat in Madrid, but this was the first time I managed to do that here in the U.S.). We got up Sunday morning for a fantastic brunch buffet at Cliffbreakers, with everything from roast turkey to canteloupe, all kinds of eggs (Florentine, Benedict, scrambled, fried, poached...), and a hot fudge fountain with strawberries and marshmallows for dipping. Of course, we needed a lot of time to go back for food and to talk, and we needed a lot of food as we invested a lot of energy in talk...in our own private room, so plenty of time, space and energy to catch up with Patte, Carla (and her daughter Alyse), Linda (and her sister Sue), Beth Purfeerst (Paul-Petersen), Cathy, and Colleen. Of course, my Mom and Diana were there...the story of the cuff of my pants catching on fire in Ruby (Patte's red push-button transmission car that Carla and Joe Kelly drove into a ditch...but, of course, that was after the pants incident) and everyone throwing me into a snow bank to stomp out the fire surprised my mother (who insists she always thought I was so quiet and so good) and has given Diana a story (among others) to tell her Dad and her sister...I'll never hear the end of it!

It was hard to end that fabulous brunch ...but I do have promises from some of the gang that a St. Louis road trip is in the offing...

While Colleen and Nicky Joy attended another brunch for Colleen's Dad's 89th birthday, Mom, Diana and I drove around Rockford. We drove past Boylan, my high school, and down past 3627 Huffman, the red brick rach home where I grew up, and currently adorned with 5 or 6 huge plastic Halloween figures in the front yard. Our house is on a hill, which seemed so long and steep when I was growing up, and now seems like a short stretch with a slight incline. We drove around and visited other spots...including 2339 Harlem, my grandparents' house when I was growing up, and then my parents moved in just as I was moving out to Spain. It is the house Elisa & Diana grew up visiting every summer, and they (and their cousins) have great memories of times spent there. The house is up for sale...so the whole family since has taken a virtual tour on the real estate agent's website, with talk, especially amongst the kids, and Luis - who loves that house! - of why not buying it? Sigh. It does have its attraction. Rockford was the place where a lot went into my becoming who I am, and I had a lot of fun going back for a visit. One of the funnest parts was sharing it all with Diana, who patiently put up with the road trip, the reminiscing, the stories, the introductions to old friends...not only patiently, she genuinely seemed to enjoy it. One of my favorite pics from the trip:

Sunday evening, the road trippers all piled back into Colleen's van, and headed down to Springfield. Mike Doran had us over to his house for pizza, and more reminiscing (he conveniently had a yearbook from 1975 so we could look up all those people whose names had been woven into conversations, yet whose faces didn't always come clear). Monday morning, Colleen and Nicky Joy dropped us off at the train station (thanks, Colleen & Nicky Joy, for the great company, the great ride...and the pics!) in downtown Springfield where we parked our suitcases while we went off to visit the Lincoln Musem. That was quite interesting (I especially liked the 1860 presidential campaign TV coverage and the Mary Todd Lincoln special exhibit)...although the "God Bless America" motif grates after a while.

We then had an uneventful train ride back to a rainy St. Louis...though these last couple of days have been absolutely exquisite - brisk fall days, and, yes, the trees ARE turning nicely, thank you (though that does mean that I have to sweep bunches of leaves off my car in the morning!). I even saw a flock of ducks flying overhead when I was leaving the park yesterday morning.

Tomorrow's Halloween...I haven't been here for Halloween since 1978...I am looking forward to giving candy out to the trick or treaters...