Trip to Tuscumbia

When I was a little girl we would drive to Tuscumbia to visit my step-grandma, Edna Johnston. We didn't travel much so this seemed like a long adventure. Grandma lived on the corner of a street not far from the Osage River. There was a hill across the street from her house that we would walk up and then roll down. It was such fun! There were steps leading up the hill to uptown Tuscumbia. The older kids would get to walk to a two story store not far from Grandmas and even up the stairs to town. I could not wait until I was old enough to go, I stayed at the house and it was such fun to go upstairs and play. There was a Mr. Potatoe Head doll and I changed his nose, hats, etc. I had never seen one before and thought it was the neatest thing ever. On the table in the living room, Grandma Edna always kept a candy dish full of Hershey's minatures. I liked the dark chocolate and crispy chocolate. For the trip home, Grandma would fill each of us a small brown paper sack with cherry tomatoes. We didn't have cherry tomotoes at home and we thought only Grandma Edna had them.

Yesterday, I took Mom and Dad to Tuscumbia to look around and then to Mary's Home to visit some friends. The trip back to a childhood memory is not the same as you remember it. The hill across from Grandmas is all grown up with sprouts and does not look near as high as I remembered. The two story store is no longer there but the foundation is (and for sale). The steps up the hill are either hidden by brush or crumbled to nonexitence. As for the town, I was so surprised to see it almost looks like a ghost town. They did build a beautiful new courthouse outside of town. We had planned on eating lunch in Tuscumbia but could not find a restaurant.
We then went to the Rush Cemetery (also know as Jim Henry Cemetery) where Grandma was buried and also my Mom's Grandma and Grandpa Williams. This gravel road goes straight in to Mary's Home. We thought we would find a restaurant there for lunch. Nope, couldn't find one there, either. As I was driving back through I noticed an old store on the corner. I went in planning to buy bread and lunchmeat. Much to my surprise they had dinette tables in there and made sandwiches. I motioned for Mom and Dad to come in and we had an amazing lunch in a friendly atmosphere. Of course, Dad found people to talk to and tell stories of making molasses.
If anyone is ever in the town of Mary's Home, stop in at the Cornerstone Store. It has the old tin ceilings, various antiques, quilts and alot of unique items for sale along with being a "modern" convenience store. The lady is very nice and has a lovely store.

We then went to the Senior Apartments to visit old friends, Mrs. Oliver (Lucille Rush), her brother-in-law, Roscoe Rush, and Lucille's daughter Mary. We had a wonderful afternoon visiting and reminiscing. Oliver and Roscoe used to come to our house years ago to deer hunt. They would arrive around 4 a.m. and Mom and Lucille would fix a huge breakfast for the deer hunters that would show up. I do not know how they "enjoyed" cooking so early every year for the hunters. When I was little I could not say Roscoe, it came out as Ceesco and I wanted to name my dog Roscoe. Needless to say, Ceesco is what the dog was called. We ended the visit by eating a delicious dessert and then fond farewells.

Aprils' boyfriend, Mike, lives in St. Elizabeth. I wanted to show Mom and Dad where he lived, so we took highway 52 back towards Vienna. It was a beautiful drive, especially seeing the Osage River in the distance in a few places.

Overall, we had a great day and I am so grateful to still have my parents with me. We had a wonderful day.