There's No Place Like Home

Coming from a girl that lives in Kansas, it may seem a bit strange that I’m talking about Carlisle, PA. But I assure you I am. Moving to the Army War College when I was four, my father requested to stay here to allow his children some stability. We ended up staying on post until my father retired in 1982. I was in 8th grade. Staying was not a sure thing but I begged and pleaded and ultimately was thrilled my parents found a house in town and I was able to graduate from Carlisle High School like my seven siblings. You could say I am the “Anti Army Brat.”

By the time I graduated I was trying to find my way out of here. Onto “bigger and better things” than my small Pennsylvania town could offer. After several years of trying to find myself, I ended up living in Northern VA and working in DC when I was invited to a party by a high school friend. “Do you remember Charlie Carlton from high school? He’ll be there.” I had no recollection of a guy named Charlie who was a freshman when I was a junior, but I went to the party and the rest, as they say, is history.

Despite my intention to never marry a man in the military, that’s exactly what I did. We got married in the church on Carlisle Barracks where I’d made my first communion in the second grade, my confirmation in the eighth grade and where my two sisters got married. It was the wedding every girl dreams of.

Charlie was a Captain in the Army at the time. The marriage has blessed us with five children and more than twice that many moves in the last 14 years. Change is a constant in my kids’ lives, but so is Carlisle. Because Charlie has deployed four times and spent so much time traveling even when he’s not deployed, the kids and I have come to Carlisle for an extended vacation almost every summer since they were born.

My parents’ having a pool in the backyard is certainly a big draw. It’s much easier to walk out the back door than to pack up a truckload of stuff to bring to the public pool wherever we are currently living. And having four extra hands (belonging to my parents) doesn’t hurt either. My kids have benefited greatly from spending so much time with their grandparents and getting to know their cousins that live locally as well as all the others who also come for summer visits. (There are 27 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren to date) Whoever can make it to Carlisle over the 4th of July comes, and we usually have a pretty good crowd. It gets a little crazy in the house; you can typically find kids sleeping on every available couch and floor space. My mother somehow manages to cook dinners for an army and keep enough snacks in the house that the kids are fed on a regular basis. My Dad is the pancake king. He’s so meticulous about his pancake’s being “a decent size,” he would only do one at a time in a large frying pan. He finally broke down recently to buy a large griddle so he can do several at once. This way we are done eating breakfast before lunchtime.

It becomes more apparent each year that family is not the only benefit of spending time in Carlisle. The amount of things I do with the kids while here is truly amazing. Trying to give my parents an occasional quiet moment has me seeking out “good cheap fun” with the kids. Sure, there are several amusement parks around the area but let’s face it, how many people do you know who have the money to take five kids to Hersey for the day more than once or twice a summer? Plus, it’s five against one! Personally, I don’t enjoy those kinds of odds. So we do the things that are closer and much less expensive. If you ask my kids their favorite thing to do in Carlisle, most of them would say “Massey’s.” The ice cream itself is only part of the experience. It’s the walk to Massey’s with cousins or grandparents. Then the atmosphere of sitting in the parking lot watching the cars go by or running into friends or teachers from the past. As I watch the kids walking home, happy, giggling, and chasing fireflies I can’t help but think that these are the things childhood memories are made of.

Since we arrived in Carlisle in mid-June we have done, visited and/or experienced the following: I sent the girls to basketball camp at Shippensburg and drove them each day. (We found a great little ice cream shop in the municipal building). Bosler Library offers a great story time for toddlers, I remember bringing my 11 and 12 year olds to listen to Miss Elaine when they were one and two. This year, the 4 yr old went. We’ve gone as a family several times getting books, movies, and even audio books for the car. We’ve been to Ft. Letort to play and feed the ducks and to the playground behind St. Patrick’s church after mass. My dad and I took the boys to play tennis at Mooreland and they got engaged in a game of imaginary baseball on the field which allowed my Dad and me a rare chance to volley with each other for a few minutes.

That doesn’t even include Summerfair! Although my father was ill and we were not able to participate in the preparation of the Rotary Roast Beef Dinner, we still ate the delicious meal! We had great seats at the parade Friday night and had plenty of ice cream at the social afterwards. I finally got up the nerve to run the Saturday morning 5k. I started running the race with a friend I hadn't seen in years. (Then I watched his back as he got smaller and smaller while I was wheezing for air) The kids got up and were in the yard in their pajamas cheering me on while I ran up Belvedere Street.

Later that day we went to Dickenson. The craft fair is a favorite of the kids. It’s becoming a favorite of mine as they have started bringing their own money! So concerned were my kids that we might miss the Baby Races, that we got front row seats about 45 minutes before they started. The reward for the long hot wait was that we were in the background of a picture of the races that appeared in the Sentinel the next day.

Thanks to FaceBook, I have reconnected with several friends who are still in the area and others who still get back to visit their folks as well. My kids have “friends” that they see once a year while visiting Carlisle. We attended a picnic at a friend’s house where we watched the impressive fireworks show. (Tip: Last year we watched from the Target parking lot which was great for my little ones who aren’t big on loud noises!) I met up with some friends from High School and we had a great adventure hiking at Tumbling Run. A fund raising picnic for Heaven Kelly, a local girl with cancer allowed my kids to explore yet another playground while spending some of their own money to help out another child. Bluegrass on the Grass led to seeing family friends that I wouldn’t have seen had we not attended.

The Carlisle Theatre Company puts on a show each year that leaves my kids begging to return the next night. Sometimes we do, BECAUSE IT’S FREE! I credit last year’s show of “Joseph” for getting my kids to audition and perform in the Music Man Junior at Fort Leavenworth this year. This year’s production of “All Shook Up” has introduced them to the music of Elvis.

While we lived in Germany, Charlie and I had a son who had died in utero. After I delivered, we had him baptised. The Army shipped the body back to Carlisle and my parents were able to bury him at St. Patrick's cemetary with my grandmother. Visiting "Gerard's Rock" is something the kids actually ask to do. We had made many trips to the cemetary over several years before they realized that people were actually buried under the tombstones. (True story) But that never stopped them from wanting to go out there. The statue that had been next to the grave had broken over the last several years. I've been looking for just the right one to replace it. I found it today at The Susquahanna House, which is owned and run by another high school friend! Go figure!

Few things are as much fun as tagging along with my Dad to some of his regular activities. He meets several of his friends for breakfast every Saturday morning at Kimberly’s Café. They call themselves The Breakfast Club. I don’t come close to going every Saturday while I’m home, (retired Army officers like to eat REALLY EARLY in the morning) but I’m happy to say I made it last week. I also attended a Rotary Club meeting last week. A great club doing great things for this town. Tonight, he brought me to the Monday Night Book Club at Bosler Library. Everywhere we go, I’m greeted with a smile! Most of the credit for this goes to my father, I know, for being such a great guy. But I think it speaks volumes for a town to be so welcoming.

We are headed to Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, MD tomorrow to connect with a collage friend I haven’t seen in years. We’ll hit the Gettysburg outlets at some point before we leave. I consider that one of the more “educational” segments of our vacation. “Look at the battlefields, kids. Okay, now we can shop!”

Unfortunately, we never made it to any of the Sunday in the Park concerts this year. It never ceases to amaze me how the kids love to sit on the benches in Thornwald Park and listen to any and all types of music. When the young ones get a bit wild, no one seems to mind as I walk them to the back of the crowd. Typically, there is a Carlisle Policeman on duty who is happy to chat with my kids and let them gawk at the cruiser. I also missed an afternoon at Tangles, my favorite beauty shop. I’ve been getting my hair cut there for years. When the owners daughter, who was a friend from high school, took over it made it that much more fun to go and catch up on what I’ve missed in the last year.

I know Carlisle has changed as much as I have since I moved away. I’ve grown up and so has this town. It’s bigger, more diverse, the high school isn’t winning as much as we used to when I was a cheerleader, but still; it’s Carlisle. It’s home. My home. And there truly is, no place like it!