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Jan. 8, 2012

For the second time in less than a year, I have a blood clot in my lungs. This time it is just one; last time it was 80 percent of both lungs. Unfortunately, this means I'll be on Coumadin for the rest of my life.

The recovery took six months last time, so things like this site went largely ignored. Sorry!

Oct. 7, 2010

The Allegan County News was awarded a huge National Newspaper Award last weekend! We won first place in the General Excellence category for our size publication.

Please visit The Allegan County News to read a story about our big honor as well as a photo of the paper staff.

 

Sept. 18, 2010

Here is a picture of the sign Shelly, "the mail lady," put in our yard after reading my column. She said she liked the column so much that she sent it to the Postmaster General!

Please read the column below the pictures.

In case you didn't know, this is our house now!

 

The view from the corner of Marshall and Fourth streets.

 

Home sweet home!

 

Sept. 8, 2010

I finally found the courage to voluntarily write an editorial. Enjoy!

'Allegan moment' makes connection to community

I recently moved into a neighborhood--a neighborhood in Allegan to be exact. There, I recently had what I refer to as an "Allegan moment." It was the kind that makes me glad to have purchased my first home here and excited for the childhood that my son will have in this cozy little town, just as my husband and I did before him.

The experience was brought about during an encounter with our postal carrier.

For the majority of my life I have known her as "Shelly, the mail lady." I don't even know her last name, but, then again, in Allegan I don't have to.

I first met Shelly at Red's Motor Parts, a one-time family business that was primarily staffed by my grandpa and mom from years before my birth until it closed in my teens.

As my sister and I grew up, one of the store's windows along Hubbard Street was repurposed as our stage/playroom. I suppose Mom and Grandpa had enough of us shoving merchandise out of the way and eventually gave in. The progression is not clear all these years later, but the memories of that window and the Allegan I saw through it are.

There we played for hours flanked by our trusty black-and-white dog, Pepper.

As we entered school and spent less and less time in the window, it became Pepper's.

"How much is that doggy in the window?" was asked so frequently it might as well have been the store's mantra.

As the parent of a toddler and a rescue dog, I'm sure there were days Mom and Grandpa felt like selling us along with a box of spark plugs or some hydraulic hoses, but somehow they refrained.

Flash forward to the present. Having never been sold to a mechanic or weekend car hobbyist, I'm all grown up now with a young family and a new house, but remnants of the little girl who grew up in a window on Hubbard Street remain.

The key difference is that I now watch Allegan from a new vantage point. Perched on Marshall Street, I watch the world go by--mostly during my son's nightly truck watching sessions on the front porch.

In addition to the traffic, I noticed something else recently--the familiar face of "Shelly, the mail lady."

It took me two weeks to mention our seemingly unknown connection to her. It only took her a second to recall my name, the window, the dog, the Allegan connection.

"I remember asking your grandpa, 'How much are those kids and doggy in the window?'" she said.

I then introduced her to my husband and son, and mentioned our dog Gracey--a deaf handful of issues, love and loyalty with somewhat of a resemblance to her Hubbard Street predecessor.

She asked what the dog looked like and a quick meet-and-greet ensued.

Shelly also asked what she could do if Gracey was ever running loose.

I said she could put her on the porch and jokingly added that she had already been delivered to a family member's house three years earlier by the mail lady in my childhood neighborhood and she could call her co-worker for back up, if needed.

Not surprisingly, Shelly had heard about Gracey's previous adventure and, thus, another Allegan connection was made.

As we ended our conversation, Shelly said she was glad to make connections with the people along her route because she considered it part of her job.

When the for-sale sign left the front yard, she said she wondered who had bought "the Price house." Now she knew.

I just hope some day our house will be known as "the Ramaker house," but since I'm still known by my maiden name here, I'm sure that won't be a quick change.

I'm sure people will make the connection though.

 


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