As I sit down to write something for an article today, I realize that it’s what I have been doing on every other Thursday for eight years now. Eight years is a very long time. Just think, in eight years you can go from the first grade clear up to beginning high school. Or in another eight years, if you are lucky, you can go through high school and four years of college.
Anyway, eight years is a long time. But, for me these last eight years have flown by like a rocket ship. In order to have an article in every other Wednesday paper, I write it on Thursday of the week before and send it to the Gazette on Friday, then they get it printed in the next Wednesday’s paper.
So, today is the Thursday for me to sit down at this wonderful desk and write something that I would feel good about. Coming up with the idea of something to write is half the challenge, and writing it is the other half. I didn’t have a thought at lunch time today, but when I went outside and sat down on our wonderful 80-year-old porch swing, it came to me. Today is one of the five or six times a year that George and I live through knowing that our daughter, Cathy, will be driving here, alone from Florida. We worry about her having a safe trip. She doesn’t worry as much as we do, but we are her parents. After all, if she was injured out in one of the states between Florida and Ohio, how would we ever find her?
We wait to hear from her that she is safely settled in a hotel at one of the places just as she hits the Ohio border. Knowing she is that near to home, we feel a lot better about her making the entire trip safely.
It is now Friday, and she has called to let us know she will be here by noon. Just being in Ohio is as good as being home. When she got here, we had lots to talk about, beginning with the changes that have taken place. The first thing she said was that Delaware and Columbus are no longer separated. It’s all one connection with businesses and apartments being built everywhere.
At the first part of this article, I wrote that our “Florida” daughter returns home to see us each year. By sitting here writing this article, it has kept me from worrying about her traveling alone for such a long distance. I know I will be fine until it is time for her to leave and make that long trip back to Florida again.
Kay E. Conklin is a retired Delaware County recorder who served four terms. She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in sociology and anthropology.
