Five years ago, I went to my hometown to say goodbye.
My parents were selling the home I grew up in that summer, and I didn't know when I would ever be back in that town. While I had (and still have) no interest in living in Tallahassee again, I felt a strange paralysis. Like if my parents left, somehow Tally wasn't mine anymore. I wasn't allowed to claim it.
When my parents picked me up at the airport for my farewell visit, my mother asked if there was anything I wanted to do.
I wasn't sure how to answer. I told her that I wanted to spend time with her and Dad, a visit to Mashes Sands to swim in the Gulf, and that I wanted a Bradley's sausage. Bradley's Country Store is one of my favorite places in Tallahassee. We pulled up the next day for lunch and ordered sausage dogs and bought a bottle of Nehi. We sat on the front porch to eat. Afterward, we went back inside where Dad picked up a jar of some kind of preserves, and I picked out Sweet Vidalia Onion salad dressing to take back with me to Virginia.
I held onto that salad dressing and didn't open it for almost two years, and I teared up a little when I finally finished it (and not just because it's truly heavenly - I've never found anything that compares here).
Lately, I've been thinking about Tallahassee. Thinking about my life there. Thinking about how different my life is now, and how grateful I am for the place I grew up.
For the town and the memories that will always be mine.
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