I Am Going Home

 

We were so lucky to be able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents when we were growing up.  When we were small and not yet in school, Grandpa would frequently come and collect us and take us to their house because my Grandma never learned to drive.  I am not sure what all we did when we were really young, but I do not remember ever being bored.  We played games, colored, ran around in the yard and picked berries or flowers from Grandma's garden, and played with neighborhood kids around their house on Lindale Street.  One rule, whether we were at home or at Grandpa and Grandma's, was that we had to take an afternoon nap.  Now that I am about the age my grandparents were, I suspect they may have needed the nap after a busy morning with a 2- and 3-year-old more than we did. 

One day when Grandpa was working and we were alone with Grandma, things did not go well and I got into trouble which resulted in a punishment that I do not remember specifically, but I do remember that I thought it was not fair. When we all laid down for our naps I waited patiently for Grandma and Viki to fall asleep and decided I was leaving and going home! I quietly got up from the couch I was resting on and slipped out the front door, walking the same way home that Grandpa always took us.  I went down to the corner, turning by Linda's house and up to the next corner turning again.  When I got to the top of the hill across from the pretty fenced-in park the Catholics owned, I turned right and crossed the street and headed up toward the dinosaur.  I liked that green dinosaur and Grandpa had even given me a little dinosaur bank that looked just the same!   Once I got there, I crossed the busy street by the eagle where Grandma did her grocery shopping, and then turned and crossed another street, heading to the little grocery store that for some reason Grandma did not shop in. 

I walked quite a long way down that road, passing the buildings where the nuns lived, past the street that went to the park, and down to where the red flying horse was.  Knowing to turn there, I walked a few more blocks until I could see Sandy's drive-in. I loved Sandy's hamburgers and chocolate milkshakes! That was a terribly busy street to cross, and I was very careful.  When I got to the other side, I started walking again going past Sandy's and past the tool store that Dad and Grandpa sometimes shopped in.  I did not have to go much farther because I knew to turn at the corner where the big kids went to school and kept walking.  I knew I was getting close to home and I was enjoying my walk.  I crossed the street a few more times along the way and was almost to our street when I saw Dad's car driving down the road in my direction.  About then it occurred to me that I might be in trouble for leaving Grandpa and Grandma’s, so I quickly ducked behind the house at the top of the hill and walked my way down the hill, through the backyards until I got home.  I do know that Mom and Dad were awfully glad to see me and that I did not really get into much trouble.  I remember them being quite amazed that not only had I had walked all the way home, but that I knew the way to go.

My poor grandmother woke up at some point and realized I had left the house.  She was frantic because she was home alone with 2-year-old Viki and did not drive.  She called Mom.  Mom called Dad who must have made record time driving all the way back into town from the John Deere Tractor Works.  I was seldom allowed to cross the street and I had never gone off on my own like that before but apparently I had no doubt that I knew my way home and that I could get there.  

As an adult remembering this little jaunt, I am amazed that no adult thought to question a 3-almost-4-year-old little girl, clearly on her own, walking along some of the busiest streets in Dubuque for over 2 miles.   For those of you reading this that have memories of Dubuque, my walk took me from Lindale Street, around Woodlawn, up Karen, and along Carter Road until I got to my long walk along Asbury Road.  From there I crossed University Avenue and walked down to where the University of Dubuque is, turning on Algona and heading a few more blocks to Hale Street.   

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

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