1987

ever thought much about South Haven until I moved to Chicago. Our house always seemed like an island, sitting in the unincorporated area to the south,Puma Shoes For Men, surrounded by the Meadow,mens puma shoes, orchards, woods, farms, and South Haven was just Town, as in Let’s go to Town and get an ice cream. Town was groceries and hardware and Mackenzie’s Bakery and the sheet music and records at the Music Emporium, Alicia’s favorite store. We used to stand in front of Appleyard’s Photography Studio making up stories about the brides and toddlers and families smiling their hideous smiles in the window. We didn’t think the library was funny-looking in its faux Greek splendor, nor did we find the cuisine limited and bland, or the movies at the Michigan Theater relentlessly American and mindless. These were opinions I came to later, after I became a denizen of a City, an expatriate anxious to distance herself from the bumpkin ways of her youth. I am suddenly consumed by nostalgia for the little girl who was me, who loved the fields and believed in God, who spent winter days home sick from school reading Nancy Drew and sucking menthol cough drops, who could keep a secret. I glance over at Henry and see that he has fallen asleep.
South Haven, fifty miles.
Twenty-six, twelve, three, one.
Phoenix Road.
Blue Star Highway.
And then: Meagram Lane. I reach over to wake Henry but he’s already awake. He smiles nervously and looks out the window at the endless tunnel of bare winter trees as we hurtle along,puma shoes online, and as the gate comes into view I fumble in the glove compartment for the opener and the gates swing apart and we pass through.
The house appears like a pop-up in a book. Henry gasps, and starts to laugh.
“What?” I say defensively.
“I didn’t realize it was so huge. How many rooms does this monster have?”
“Twenty-four,” I tell him. Etta is waving at us from the hall window as I pull around the drive and stop near the front door. Her hair is grayer than last time I was here, but her face is pink with pleasure. As we climb out of the car she’