Day 6: Childhood memory

My Grandma & Grandpa Mueller's house as it is today.

So much of my life is wrapped up in a single St. Louis neighborhood - Dogtown. My dad grew up here. All of his stories are on these streets and in the houses and church that line them. Every Christmas Eve from the year I was born until I was in fifth grade was spent in my grandma Hester's tiny little house on West Park Avenue and falling asleep next to her in a pew at St. James' the Greater midnight mass. We hunted for Easter eggs in the back yard. My cousin, Meghan, and I played office in the dugout basement. We wrestled with Grandpa in the backyard.

My brother & I with Grandma Hessbabes on Easter
 in front of the same house. She always kept the front
porch painted green in honor of our Irish heritage.

Now, I'm thirty years old and my life in coming into a full circle. My husband-to-be lives in Dogtown and I'm moving into the house in just 14 days. We'll have our first home here and maybe our kids will tell stories that revolve around the same neighborhood landmark that my dad's do. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Me & Grandma

Me riding my "big-girl" bike in the backyard.
That's Grandpa in the back and you can
catch a glimpse of their dog Pepper at the bottom.

This weekend we ...

1. Stumbled upon a roadside Volvo show hosted by the local chapter of the Volvo Club of America. I see membership in our future. We left with some official official gear and I think Justin is already dreaming of getting Ness* all dolled up for next year's show.


*Ness is our 1989 light blue Volvo 240 station wagon. She's more than a car...she's a lifestyle.

2. Walked up to the Dogtown Street Music Festival and St. James Homecoming picnic with the boys and some friends. The highlight of the music festival is a toss up between the man who was enthusiastically playing the spoons and the man who didn't seem to realize he was playing the hammer dulcimer out on a street corner. Also, I think that St. James has the exact same rides out for kids that they did in 1987 when I used to go with my Grandma Hessbabes. Also that lady working the car ride looked familier, too....

Please note that someone is still wearing their Volvo pin.

3. Scored some absolute classics from the records that were donated to my parents' church record sale. Four words: Baby, I'm-a Want You.