Okay, another piece of the puzzle that is my personal history...today V is for Vermilion, not the color...the city!
I speak of course about Vermilion, OH. The final stop on the 3rd phase of my youth. (Phase I is birth to 7years, Phase II is 8 to 14, and Phase III is 15 to 21.) This is, of course, quite arbitrary and made up. But it works for me.
Anyway, Vermilion, OH is located on the southern shore of the Great Lake Erie about halfway across the north coast of Ohio. Click on the preceding link and then click on the Guide tab to see and learn more about Vermilion. It's worth a few minutes.
I spent roughly 8 years in Vermilion. A couple of years after my dad passed away my mom decided to move a two hours north so we could be nearer the rest of our family that lived in Vermilion. This move from Canton, OH to Vermilion was during my junior year in high school so you can imagine all the selfish teenage feelings of rebellion and anger at having to leave all my friends and move to a new city. Trying to make new friends with students who have had their OWN friends since grade school, well... just sucks. With only a year and a half left of high school it was not what this 16 year old was looking forward to. I did miserable in class for the next grading period after the move. I am now ashamed at being that self-center when my mother was going through the worst tragedy imaginable and raising 4 kids alone. I can never make it up to her.
Graduating in '74 and moving out on my own was exhilarating and probably stupid. The next few years involved working, drinking (18 was the legal age for "3.2 beer"), living where I could eat and drink, almost making bad decisions with young girls, and escaping legal hassles by the hair of my chin! I used all nine lives and then some in this sleepy town of 12,000 (now down to 10,000).
I now go back every Christmas that I can, to see my mother, sisters, and cousins who still live there. I made two trips back there this past winter...one for the holiday and one 3 weeks later for my uncle's funeral. Bad move not going to see him when I was there for Christmas. At least I can remember him as he was 2 years earlier when I last saw him.
The town brings back lots of memories (obvs) but I will say that anyone who is planning a vacation to the Midwest couldn't go wrong in spending some peace and quite time in this quaint town and the surrounding area. And if you go at the right time (see Events tab on the Vermilion link) you might even see this:
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| Pirate Fest |
So Vermilion, OH named after the red clay that is much of the earth in this area is my V for the day.
Here are a few of my pictures from Christmas...
Click to enlarge 'em
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| Grandma's old house - it is huge! |
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| The Lagoons...high dollar living right on the water |
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| Self Explanatory |
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| Winter shot of a similar photo in the Guide tab of the Vermilion link |
8 comments:
I think I've been through there once.
Don't beat yourself up. We moved around a lot and it was always tough making new friends.
Looks like a nice community! Thanks for the story. That was a traumatic time for a teenager to move. No wonder you were upset.
Nice to meet you on A to Z.
Monti
NotesAlongTheWay
I was also uprooting to a new state after my freshman year. So going to a new high school my sophomore year felt like I was a freshman all over again.
Alex: One of the big draws in the area in the Cedar Point amusement park. It had one of the oldest wooden roller coasters around called the Blue Streak.
Monti: Thanks for being my 99th follower...I stopped by your blog and returned excatly the same favor...I'm your 99th!
Geof: Yeah for me it was just that close to graduation and knowing I would never quite be ingrained as a memorable part of the class was the hard part. Yet I survived. thanks for stopping by.
Now that's a totally unexpected V that made me small.
Copyboy: And yet you are as tall as you were yesterday!
Great post Chuck! I love old stories, especially so when there are photos involved also.
I don't know if we talked about this before, but I lived right down the road from Vermillion as a kid. Port Clinton and Gypsum.
No Pat you never shared that with me. I have been to Port Clinton a few times. Is that the area you lived in for all your posts of your youth? Small world.
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