This past Fall (2012), for the first time since a friend's funeral and visitation in 2008, I went back to Hannibal, MO for their Fall Festival. The arts, crafts, festival and antique shops on Main were fun and interesting. I also drove by Levering Nursing Home - was Levering Hospital, where I was born!, I drove by the Pentecostal church at 11th & Broadway - where I fell in love with the Hammond B3 organ, and I heard it several times a week since I was 2 wks old....
I also drove to Mt. Olivet Cemetery, where my paternal grandmother and her side of the family is buried - along with everybody from Mark Twain's immediate family (Aunt Polly, who was his mother in real life, "The Judge", which is his father, his siblings and their spouses, etc - with the lone exception of himself, his wife and kids - they're buried in Elmira, NY)...
I also went by Oakwood Elementary School, and I meant to, but I forgot to visit Garth Mansion, where Mark Twain gave his last speech in Hannibal.
(Doncha know it.... my lovely, culturally-soaked parents never told me that we lived within walking distance of Garth Mansion when we lived right across Highway 61 from Grandview Cemetery. (A lot of friends and relatives are buried in Grandview, too.)
I also drove through Quincy and the surrounding areas, where I lived from 1979 - 1995. I know it was early in the morning on a fall Saturday, but to my St. Louis-infused mind, I felt like Hannibal and Quincy BOTH have reached a point far beyond Mark Twain's opening line in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - 'Hannibal was a sleepy little town....' I don' think Hannibal / Quincy are sleepy any more - I think they're down-right comatose!
Like a lot of cities, most of the business / action has moved to Quincy's outskirts, leaving downtown feeling more than slightly abandoned. More areas seemed to be overgrown and run down than I previously remember. I know that it's because I've lived in a larger city for 18 years, but the streets seemed to be actually TINY and closed-in compared to what I hold in my memory.
I did enjoy the things that haven't been influenced by changes in people and influenced by the passage of time: Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Riverside Cemetery, Lover's Leap, etc, have remained unchanged for probably 100 years. When I visited those few places, I felt like "I was finally home...."
Prior to about 8 years ago, in the past, I enjoyed visiting that area. But this past fall, as I was driving down Highway 61 back to St. Louis, with a few exceptions, I was glad to be going home. I did have SOME good experiences in the Hannibal / Quincy area, but for the most part, I was left feeling sad, a bit cheated, depressed and more than a bit let down. Hindsight being 20 / 20, if I had to do it all over again, I would rather keep my memories of decades past, rather than have a clear vision of how things are there today.
In a very literal and real sense, being blind in one eye isn't always a 'bad thing'. Mark and I can be driving down a street or walking through a mall, and - at first glance - I will notice a gentleman who looks 'rather fetching'. Mark will tell me, "Oh, no. Look again!", indicating that because I am blind in one eye, I didn't get a good look at the fella in the first place, and that the reality of the situation is that he isn't all that good looking! I will NOT look again, and I will tell Mark, "No, thanks. I'll take your word for it. I can tell from your statement that I like will like the image that my memory and what my imagination holds, rather than what he REALLY looks like!" And - I won't take a second look! The same thing is true for the Hannibal / Quincy area. I know that - with a few exceptions - I like the images and memories in my mind rather than the reality of real life in those areas today.
Mark says, "You know - you truly 'can't go home!' " True, dat!
- Michael
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