Piece of the past still remains

My wife and I travel back in time attending a family reunion once a year.

But then there’s new people, there’s repeats, and there are those who have passed on.

I’m not much for crowds and groups, for the most part, but I’ve been attending her family’s annual reunion on her mother's side for some 40 years now.

And we usually take about the same route from our hometown to some 90 miles north. Its about two hour’s drive time, with a stop about halfway for a restroom break.

This year was no different. Over the course of our marriage we’ve seen people come and go and pass on. That’s the way life is.

Each year, going up Mississippi Highway 29,  I slow down a little once we’re about 10 miles from our destination. 

Back on the right side of the road, in a clump of trees, is an old building.

"There it is," we usually exclaim to each other.

It’s not very big. But wifey recalls those times in her pre-teen years when she visited what at the time was the local grocery store.

That was way back in the 1950’s when candy was a penny a piece and a soft drink cost a nickel or maybe a dime at the most. 

Back then stores had machines that held the liquid delight with their bottoms dangling in ice water.

The bottles had to be  grabbed along their topside and slide along a path to where they exited the machine.

It was always cool in there, she recalls, although there wasn’t any modern-day air conditioning.

Those were the good ole days. Those days have come and gone, people have come and gone, but for some reason, the building still stands, although it is empty and just another memory.

Next post: April 21, 2015