Brownsville

 

October 7, 2021

Some spirit settled over me and I began Googling people and places I half remembered from my father’s home town, Brownsville. Found obituaries for a couple of the Despots, who lived on the farm across the street, including the mother and a kid (one year older than me) I used to hang out with, whom I lied to about my baseball prowess (which didn’t exits) because I figured he’d have no way of checking. We stayed there one Thanksgiving when grandma’s house was too full. Mrs Depot (their grandma) made me the best ham sandwich that ever was in the world out of their own slaughtered hogs (which I once watched them do). I envied the Despot boys because they could wander in the woods without ever leaving their own property. Tried to find grandma’s house by finding a lone house across the street from a farm, but things must have changed since then. Googled downtown Brownsville, which is a ghost town now, but was vibrant when I first knew it, and vibrant in my father’s memory. Looked for the McCrory’s and the Castle and the iron bridge, etc, which I remembered. Haven’t been there in sixty year.