by Sarah Kiepper
The roots of my maternal family formed in Youngstown where my
mother and aunt grew up on Meadowbrook and went to school at
Paul C. Bunn, Adams, and Woodrow Wilson which stood tall until
it was torn down after 80 years. Our lives wound their way around
the city. My maternal grandparents lived on Tudor Lane when I was
born, and we played on the shuffleboard painted on the basement
floor of their house on Smithfield when I was older. Family reunions
were held each summer at Bears Den Cabin where we shared dishes
and stories and found our courage climbing the huge rocks while
making friends with cousins forever. My life wound its way around
the city as I grew older. As a teen I took worship dance lessons at
the church on Fifth Avenue, but I wasn’t pure enough to become a
member of the troupe. I worked as a corrections officer at the
Supermax for less than a year where some of the inmates were nicer
than many of the staff. I earned my second graduate degree from
Youngstown State where I taught my all-time favorite classes as an
adjunct and then hit a deer and totaled my car on Belmont on my
way home one night. Each December, my mom, aunt, and I
attended Carols and Cocoa at Stambaugh to embrace the holiday
season. The roots of my nuclear family were meant to be formed
in Boardman. My ex-fiancé and I were supposed to find our
happily ever after in a colonial with built-ins on Withers Drive in
Ridgewood Estates. Instead, he destroyed the history and integrity
of the house and our relationship. My Navy grandfather’s ship never
came in either—Papa and Grammy are now buried at Green
Haven. The legacy and memories they left behind of familial
nicknames, corny jokes, homemade pizza night, butterscotch pie,
and their faith, are celebrations we share regularly with laughter,
love, and tears. My favorite cousin, who lives off Midloathian
where you can smell the bread baking at Schwebel’s and hear the
crows caw, took my now husband’s and my engagement pictures
on the hottest day of the year in Mill Creek Park. After we married,
we adopted my soulmate beagle / dachshund Hickory from New
Lease on Life. The branches of my family are now outside of
Mahoning County, but the region is woven into our remembrances
and genealogy. I’m from the memories of generations before me.
Sarah Kiepper works in higher education and is currently earning her EdD at Kent State University. Her poetry and photographs were previously published in the Akros Review, Penguin Review, and Anomaly Poetry’s Tidings.