Running Through History

On a recent run I took a path I rarely take and went back in time more than 19 years.  I was in a neighborhood just north of downtown Royal Oak and saw that one of the side streets had a back entrance to the cemetery that faces Main Street. My grandparents are buried in that cemetery and although I drive by it almost every week and some weeks many times, I hadn’t been in it in years. As I entered the back of the cemetery I was suddenly anxious to get to the front section where my grandmother’s grave is. This is my dad’s mother. My grandfather that’s buried there is my dad’s stepfather and he died when I was quite young so I have few memories of him. But my grandmother Meitzner lived to be 93 and lived close to us so she was a part of my life until she died when I was 40. I have many, many clear memories of her. She was fun, silly and active her entire life. When I was small she would play games on the floor with me, come cheer at my baseball games and always ask about my “love life”. When I had kids she played games on the floor with them even though she was over 80 years old. The stories are too many to tell, but as I ran past her grave  I could remember 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago like it was yesterday.

That was a memorable run.