Creative Challenge #45 - "Oh, how I miss it."

Have some creative fun. Using the phrase or word at the bottom as the theme (you don't have to use the exact words) post a poem, story or photo in your blog that has been created by you. 

Please leave your link here in the comment section so we can all enjoy your Creative Challenge and don't forget to leave your blog open to everyone so we can all view your creation(s).

The phrase or word this week:
"Oh, how I miss it."

I wrote this poem 10 years ago. I so much wanted to show my children the things I loved as I grew up taking this route to my grandmother's house. When I saw the challenge, this piece immediatly came to mind. I hope you enjoy it.

It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This

I wanted to take my children along the route to my grandma’s house.

Twisting and turning along Lake Huron.

I haven’t taken this trip in well over twenty years.

 

The store in Standish is gone, as if it was never there.

Where can we stop and buy pickled bologna, Colby cheese, and Ritz crackers?

Who sells grape Nehi or giant dill pickles out of wooden barrels to the tourists now?

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

The beautiful blue handrails that marched along Main Street in downtown Oscoda are gone.

Now it looks like every other small, downtown area, very plain, very generic.

How can my children daydream as we drive through, of ghost conversations held along the weather worn blue handrails.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

Paul Bunyan is fenced in and gated now.

A "For Sale by Owner" sign hangs on a rusty wire that blocks its entrance.

Who can market the memories made of children, scampering up, up, up, to the very top of Lookout Tower where you could see forever?

My children will never see forever across the back of Babe the Blue Ox.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

What was called Domkey Zoo is now called Dinosaur Gardens.

The paint that once adorned this mysterious adventure-land is peeling, mottled, sun-dried and unkempt.

The statue of Jesus holding the whole world in His hands has corroded, leaving a hideous sneer on His face.

How can I explain to my children how this statue once engulfed my spirit and allowed me to feel divine in its presence?

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

The ice cream store that only sold frozen custard with chunks of real frozen cream now sells regular Dairy Queen wares.

My children will never know the extraordinary experience of frozen custard melting on their tongues.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

The Wal-Mart and K-Mart, Wendy’s, Burger King, all the conveniences of life fill the land that we tromped over as youngsters.

We looked for the newest adventure to fill the day.

We found the newest treasure to fill our imaginations.

How much imagination will my children take home from McDonald’s?

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

The grinding stones are gone off the beach, and a grassy park replaces the mountain of discarded stones.

How can I show my children how to balance on a huge round whetstone, when the Grindstone Mountain cleared out long ago?

Now my children get to walk along the beach on a straight, smooth sidewalk.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

Grandma doesn’t live here any more.

Now she lives down the street, behind a set of wrought iron gates, a headstone marks her address.

The children never knew her.

Grandma passed on when last I made this trip.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

 

From the backseat, on our way home, I hear giggles and whispers from my children.

"Wasn’t the Bridge awesome?"

"Did you see the seagulls eating out of our hands?"

"I never saw such a beautiful sunset in all my life."

"Swimming in Lake Huron at mid-night, can you believe it!"

"I loved eating that pastie thing!"

"No, skipping stones in the moonlight was the best!"

"No way, going to that Mystery Spot was the best!"

On and on the conversation flew between them.

As we stopped at a brand new Arby’s restaurant to eat roast beef sandwiches for dinner, my children asked,

"Can we do this again next year, huh, can we?"

 

And I thought, "Yes, it was supposed to be just like this."

 

©tjs'99