Tagged: Illinois

Nyan Cat UHaul Trailer 1

The Cat in the Table

My sister had a gray toy cat as a kid, but she wanted a real kitty. Our dad asked around and found a charcoal-colored kitten with a white spot on his tummy. My sister...

Monopoly Home History 8

No Place Like Home

When people ask me where I’m from, I never quite know what to say. I was born in St. Louis but I grew up in Illinois. I went to high school and college in...

Astrosnik 2

The Flea Market

We worked flea markets for a while. The whole family was involved. My mom made costume jewelry on a workbench in the basement. She took apart old watches and used the clockwork for broaches...

Springfield Postcard 2

Greetings From Springfield: A Postcard

While writing a recent article about a childhood trip to Springfield, Illinois, I had an idea for a postcard. I was originally going to include it in the article itself, but as sometimes happens,...

Mystery Bottle 1

The Mystery Bottle

Many years ago, my dad and I were walking along a sandbar in the Mississippi River. The river was unusually low, and there was quite a bit of detritus washed upon the sandy shoals....

Abraham Lincoln Portrait 3

A Train Ride to Springfield, Illinois

When I was eleven years old, we lived on a farm in rural Illinois. My dad worked for a law firm in Missouri, and one day he had to drive up to Springfield, Illinois...

Loud Children sign 3

Playground Nazis

In the fifth and sixth grade, I went to school in East Carondelet, Illinois. It was a small town of 600 sandwiched between the Mississippi Levee and the MoPac Railroad. I loved my teachers...

UHT Milk 4

The Greatest Breakfast of My Life

The greatest breakfast of my life was at a Holiday Inn near Midway Airport in Chicago. It was a continental breakfast buffet, and it wasn’t the food that was so great. It was the...

Chevy Toyota Logo 5

Slippery Slope

It was an odd winter. Every day above freezing. Every night below. The sleet and freezing rain came, melted a little, and refroze. Soon the whole St. Louis area was covered with three or...