Ryland Farewell

It's often hard to say goodbye.  It's even harder when something has been with you for your entire life.

The closing on my parents' house on Ryland Street in Redford is tomorrow.  Today, I took my last steps in the home that saw me grow up.

I wasn't really surprised at the wash of emotions that swept over me as I walked through the old house, and said my goodbyes to the shadows and memories that will always linger there.

Before leaving, I took my last walk to the field at Bulman, where my school once stood.  I walked home one last time, then down to the old Topolewski house, where as a young boy I spent many treasured moments in the h
ome of my oldest and dearest friend, before entering our old house one last time, walking through rooms filled with love and memories that live in every last corner.

Yesterday, my brother and I carved our names and initials into the beams and furnace-room walls, a sad reminder of the first family that lived there.

Today, I said goodbye.

And tomorrow...the house will belong to another young family, whose children will get to explore the woods and fields that made the old neighborhood such a magical place to grow up.  But to me, the Ryland house --- and the neighborhood that saw me grow from a boy to a man --- will always be home...and will have a special place in my heart until the day I die.




JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the Guardians of Peace-tm science fiction adventure series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.