You Can Go Home
By Paul Rickey Mays
Someone once said “You can never go home again." Well I can only say I and my family have now made the attempt. I was born in Girdler, raised in Heidrick and schooled in Barbourville. My family moved to Michigan in 1968 where we thought we would live our lives. In 1971 my oldest brother pasted away at the age of 26 and I continued school until I enlisted in the Army and started my travels of the world. I was severely wounded in 1972 and found my way back to Michigan where after a few hard years of rehabilitation I continued my education and worked in several high tech fields until a few years back. My old wounds have now caught up with me and the government put me out to pasture. My father has had a long fight with heart problems and cancer. My mother has retired and my older brother is retiring after 35 years with the same company.
So here we are.... The whole family has made the decision to return to where we called home. We combined assets and bought a piece of property between Heidrick and Girdler, Packed up and moved lock ,stock and barrel back to where we will live out the rest of our lives. After traveling to 7 countries and all 50 states I hope to find that one can indeed "Go home again”.
I have spent the last few weeks traveling back to all the places that have remained imprinted in my mind. I visited the old Heidrick School where Mrs. White taught me to read and write only to find an apartment covering the grounds I played on. Visited the Brick Yard ponds where I built forts in the little woods only to find a Water Park filling the spaces. Visited the Court House Square where I went to the movies at the Magic and ate frozen custard and the Custard Shop, Had a burger at the Collage Corner and watched the old men trade pocket knives on the court house steps, Only to find the movie house, Jacks Blue Room, The Collage Corner now either closed or filling other functions.
With all the old memories changed by time I still find the most important aspect of My Home Town to remain. The one thing that holds more importance than all the places that have gone the way of bygone days, that is something that I have never forgotten with all my travels. That one thing is the wave of the hand of a neighbor as you pass by, the one thing that remains of the home I left so many years ago is the spirit of the people that I have seen as I have visited around the area. While many that live here take it for granted, it is a spirit that I have not seen in many years and I see it in the people and has made my families return all that more fulfilling. So with a smile I can truly say We have Come Home.
