"Hey Mark, we are going to be playing a lot of ping-pong at Aunt Katherine's house to keep ourselves entertained."
While most college students spend their spring break in Mexico or Florida drinking tequila and going to beaches, I, Kristin, went to Solomon, Kansas with the family to visit relatives and friends. I didn't want to go at first, but someone had to keep my brother, Mark, company. I decided to give farm life a chance considering my family roots are located in Kansas. Our connection with Kansas is my dad was raised in Manchester, Kansas, which is near Abilene and Solomon. My mo and dad met in California and moved to Abilene, Kansas in hopes to farm with my dad's father. Mark and I were born in Abilene, Kansas--yes, it's also the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. We stayed at my dad's sister's house way out in the boondocks of Solomon.
"Where are we?" I asked rubbing my eyes. Mom replied, "we're in Abilene." We were almost to Katherine's house. I looked in the back seat and saw Mark was still listening to his head phones. "Aren't you sick of listening to music yet? You've had those headphones on for thirteen hours." As we approached Katherine's house, I said "Oh no, they still have a dog?"--and there in front sat a dog! I have a phobia of dogs and it started on her back step years ago when a dog bit me--it was even a Lassie dog. Throughout the trip however I gradually tucked my fear aside and made friends with the dog. Touching the dog was a miracle. I always had Mark in the background trying to scare me saying, "the dog is going to bite you Kristin."
In the morning we went to church in Abilene where Mark and I were baptized. As soon as we walked in, my mother recognized old friends and started reminiscing. I said to myself please don't leave me alone, but a couple of ladies approached me. I had never met them before, but they had remembered me from when I was a baby. "You must be...I forget your name. Oh, Kristin. You have grown since the last time I saw you running around the church. I was your sister's Sunday school teacher." I also talked with a friend of my dad's. Dwayne said, "Your dad and I used to play in a band together. Where are you going to school? I love talking with college students. They are so bright, intelligent, and take class so seriously. I think students are more into education than they were in my day." They all said it was good to see me again when I was saying "it was nice meeting you." I recognized the maroon carpet and the altar from the pictures, but that was all. It's odd learning about my parents' history and learning a lot I didn't know about them.
After church we went to visit my cousin, Joanne, and her husband, Mike. Last time we saw their mansion it only consisted of the frame. Now it's beautifully finished and even has an elevator for when old age comes around. "Hey Marci, go take Mark and Kristin downstairs to play some pool and get them a pop from the garage. They look pretty bored" Mike said. Mark and I were sent downstairs entertained by Joanne's daughter, Marci. This was the highlight of the trip. Marci was bubbly and funny for an eight year-old. She invited us to play pool, foosball, and Nintendo sixty-four. When we were playing Nintendo sixty-four, she made a funny, cocky comment to Mark. "Player two isn't ready." Mark was not paying attention to the game while Marci was programming the type of race car he wanted to drive. The rest of the trip we kept on making fun of Marci's assertive comment. Mike let us even check our e-mail. He said, "I know what it's like to be away from home." He knew Mark and I were bored and had done a lot of visiting.
The next day Mom, Mark, and I went to Lindsborg to the Swede shops along one street while Dad went to visit his brother, Leroy, on the farm. Mark and I didn't expect the shops to be that boring, but we were wrong. I kept on asking Mark, "should I buy some Norwegian chocolate?" I wanted him to say yes for reassurance because I gained weight at college and knew I shouldn't, but I really wanted to. We walked around the neighborhood looking at old cars and getting pictures of a '69 Chevelle. To help pass the time, we took goofy pictures of each other. Sitting under a shelter, we waited for Mother to do her shopping. I don't know how she could spend that much time in just a few shops that have basically the same things inside. Finally, when she was done she said, "I need another day to see everything in the shops"--I thought, no way.
Driving the country roads to pick up my dad at Leroy's, every car waved and I'm saying everyone. Even a guy standing in his yard waved at us. Eventually, we got to Leroy's. He is a talker. You are lucky if you get a word in. He showed us an antique furnace saying, "here is the old furnace Georgia's bought, but it's just been sitting here until they come to pick it up. It's been here for quite some time, yup, and this one over here (points to the corner) I had refinished..." blah, blah, blah.
It's strange retracing history's footsteps not really knowing history, but knowing the future changes in friends and family. Sometimes I wonder how life would be different if I grew up in Kansas. In order for a city girl like me to have had fun on this trip, there had to be a deep appreciation for my roots because it's a part of me. Now that I'm older I could truly get to know my aunt and her husband. Even though conversations are long about farming and world news topics, I finally got a little caught up with the world by listening--and no I didn't see Dorothy and Todo.