Returning Home

Last week I returned to my roots. I returned to where I had grown up. I returned to Kansas City, Missouri.

So many things had changed, and yet so many things had remained the same. There were new roads, new highways, new ways to get from one point to another. The City seemed crowded and noisy. I had forgotten how long it took to get from one point to another. But we managed. My husband has a much better memory than do I, and although it had been almost 10 years since we had been there, he managed to get us about without too much trouble.

For a price, you too can be Cinderalla!
 

The Kansas City Plaza is still beautiful and is one of the highlights of the city. We stayed in a hotel within walking distance of the Plaza. I don't shop the Plaza, these are stores from which one (with means like mine) should simply window shop. In the evening the Plaza really comes alive. There are street musicians and horse drawn carriages lit up like a little girl's dream of being Cinderella. The streets are brusting with shoppers and young folks seeking excitement and fun.

There are art museums not too far from the plaza although this time we did not visit them. Instead we went to Westport where they were having a street art fair. We ate slices of pizza at one of the pubs and walked many streets with unique artwork on display.

Our reason for this atumnal visit was to celebrate my sister's 60th birthday party which she held in grand style. This was the year my sister and her three friends all turned 60. They chose to celebrate it together. And what a grand celebration it was!

At my sister's party I felt the tug and pull of my heritage. I saw and heard the Mariachi's playing their music and then later saw and did some of the dances that I had not seen for so many years. I also visited my older sister and saw relatives and friends from so far back in my past that I couldn't even recall their names, and yet some remembered me.

Now, I am back home and the weather has turned cold and the wind rattles and whistles. I think about the warm bright lights and busy city. I reminisce with a mixture of sadness and happiness for what once was, and for what is now. It really is true, "you can never go home again."