Saying Farewell To An Old Friend

It May Seem Strange To Some But To Others They Can Understand The Anguish I Have Been Facing And The Finality Of Saying Goodbye.
It Has Hosted A Birth, Weddings, A Fire, The First Day Of School As Well As The Last. Family Reunions And Neighborhood Basketball Games.
The Year Was 1956. Harvey And Shirley Miller Purchased Their First Home Across The Street From Franklin School. Little Did They Know That More Than 50 Years Later It Would Continue To Be The Miller Household Commonly Known As 713 Franklin Street.
Three Young Boys Would Share What Seemed Like A Lifetime Of Memories While One Little Girl This Was Really A Home She Had Always Known.
If The Walls Could Talk They Would Tell Of The Tears Of Joy And The Tears Of Sadness.
The Size Of The Family Would Soon Grow And The Need For Additional Space Would Be Obvious. Living In A Home Full Of Foster Children Soon Became The Norm. Some Foster Children Would Come And Go But Three Of Them Would Also Call This Home.
The Year Was 1967 And It Would Become One Of The Most Memorable Years Of My Life.
The Family Room Addition Was Being Built On The Back Of The House And This Year In Baseball Starring Your Truly When I Became Homerun Champ In Danville For Little League A. It Was Also When I Met My Lifetime Companion Billie Jo. Yes For Those Who Can Do The Math It Puts Me At The Ripe Old Age Of 12. It Wasn't Until Ten Years Later We Discovered One Another And Made Our Lifetime Commitment.
In 1971 My Brother Tuck Enlisted In The Navy And Hung In The Front Window Was A Lone Blue Star Fixed On A Banner Representing The Home Of A Soldier. Two Years Later Another Star Was Added When I Joined The Navy.
Franklin Grade School Was Torn Down And Replaced By A Seven Story, 100 Unit Senior Citizen Complex. Slowly The Neighborhood Began To Change.
Pappy's Gas Station And Mel's IGA Closed Down. Burger Chef Is Now Shroeders And Weiner King Is Now Weiner Works. Ice Cream You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream. The Canopy Ice Cream Transpired Into The Dairy Queen But Now Is A Car Wash. I Guess Maybe Saying Goodbye To Arnholt Bakery For The Last Times Was The Hardest.
Yet at 5:00 In The Evening You Can Still Enjoy The Musical Bells Coming From St James Church.
Gone Are All The Neighborhood Kids Who Use To Play Baseball, Football And Ditch On Our Bicycles. The Rodriguez's And Baumgart's Moved Away Taking Poochy Along With Them. Too Many Changes To The Neighborhood To Mention Them All.
Ofcourse 713 Is Not What It Looked Like When I grew Up In The 60's and 70's. We Modified It To Our Liking And Made Changes That Met Our Lifestyle In The New Millennium. If I Close My Eyes I Can Remember Things As They Once Were.
I'm Having A Difficult Time Dealing With Selling 713 And Moving On. The House Is Just Too Big For Just The Two Of Us. We Raised Our Family And It's That Time In Our Lives We Need To Downsize. The Heat Bill Should Be Less Because We Are Moving Into A Smaller House. Did You Notice I Didn't Say Home? 713 Will Always Be Considered Home In My Heart For Evermore.
Moving Day Is Fast Approaching. After We Are All Moved Out I Will Visit Each Room And Close My Eyes And Allow My Memory To Recall All The Happy Moments I Had And Shared In The 39 Years I Had The Pleasure In Living Here. I Will Walk Out The Door And Take Those Memories With Me And Hold Them Dear To My Heart.
The Best Years Of My Life Somehow Always Came Back To My Roots at 713.
We Leave Behind Our Beloved Pets That Are Buried In Various Locations. A Crimson King Maple Tree Which Just Recently Turned Nine Years Old And Was Planted On The Birth Of Our First Grandchild.
So In The Final Chapter All I Can Say Is, 713...Thanks For The Memories, I Will Miss You Dearly. I Will Be The Last One To Turn The Light Off On My Way To The Next Chapter In Life. No Looking Back.......Just Call Me Mac..........