Richmond, Indiana: Roots and New Growth

"All the stories I'll ever need are right here on Main Street."

~Robert Cormier~

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I am in Richmond, Indiana. I was not born here. There are people who live and work here whose families have somehow belonged to this community for generations. Their ancestors are interned at Earlham Cemetery and King's. Their great-greats were community founders. Their grandparents and parents are respected business people or involved in one of the several colleges in our city or perhaps one parent is a doctor at Reid Hospital. They have ties that go way back.

I'm still not sure how my family- a family with strange and twisted roots ended up of all places in East Central Indiana- a stone's throw away from the Ohio border. My mother is a first generation American on her mother's side (and possibly her father's too). Her mother's family escaped the collapse of their mining community in the Netherlands after the war. Her father's family was from the Phillipines. Somehow they all ended up a jumble in the Midwest. If you ask my dad, he's Kentuckian. How a Kentuckian met and married a Dutch/Filipino American Girl is another story, but the setting was already Indiana, although, it was not Richmond.

We moved here when I was nine months old. My family is a fairly fresh transplant (by native Richmond standards), and our roots are still new here. Because in some ways, I have felt like an outsider looking in, I think I have a different perspective from descendants of Richmond's founders. I have a different perspective from someone whose family witnessed the Downtown explosion that shook the city in 1968. They know Richmond as she was, a"Rose City", an economic boom town, and a city that was touted as panic proof during times of financial uncertainty around the country. There is a sense that we can't go back, that we may have irrevocably lost it.

There are families that have stuck it out in the tough times. The Veach's have been in Richmond for generations. Their store, Veach's Toy Station has been an anchor through the good times and the bad. For hundreds of children, Veach's Birthday Castle has been an anticipated annual tradition. I grew up in a large family in which birthdays were celebrated quietly. I can tell you that each year on my birthday when I received an invitation in the mail to visit the castle and pick a special gift, every year it was downright magical. It's still magical for my own children now. Veach's is a family business passed from one generation to the next. They recently celebrated their 75th year and the passing of the reins to John and Shari Veach, a couple who with their friends are eager to build up the Richmond community at its center, Downtown.

Event Photos Provided by Ply Fiber Arts & Jade Photography

After 75 years, it was fitting to celebrate the toy store's birthday as a community. At Veach's 75th Birthday Party the Downtown of Richmond, Indiana came alive anew. It was not a sentimental recreation of days gone by. It was a celebration of today. Over 550 balloons were distributed to the hundreds of children who came for a party at our favorite toy store. Gift bags were given. The Local-Lady contributed over 200 vials of bubble solution. The street was brimming with bubbles of fun. The fire department was on hand not to quench flames but to host a sprinkler party for enthusiastic kiddos. The children were hula hooping, bouncing, drawing on the streets with chalk and munching goodies. Downtown and Main Street merchants banded together in a way that they had not for years. Looking outside, up and down the streets, I saw not a picture of what was, but what can be and will be. A newly recreated downtown that fits today's need for interactivity, creativity and opportunities that speak to generations both young and old.

Local Lady Snapshot: Art by GONZO247 via CityLife

The Downtown is not the only place showing signs of life... There are so many more. There are new families making Richmond their home. There are new generations stepping up to lead. New connections and collaborations are all happening now. Each individual making the choice to give back to this community, breathes new life into this Rose City.

Sometimes the past seems so rosy and distant. We cannot go back, and we shouldn't want to, really. Things will not be as they were, they will be new. They will be different, and I think we'll find that different can be good. Maybe you'll find it can even be quite wonderful.

And by the way, we still grow roses...

Local-Lady Snapshot: Richmond Rose Garden

<3 your Local Gal

P.S.

Special Thanks to Center City Richmond, Ply Fiber Arts & Veach's Toy Station for their community building efforts & successes, as well as for their support & encouragement of the Local-Lady. Thank you so very much! Here's to next year's Main Street Celebrations & many more to follow! 

This Precious Life: Sunflowers & Moths

“Once you are real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.” 

~Margery Williams~ The Velveteen Rabbit

Gustav Klimt Sunflower

There aren't any words when someone dies. Words themselves, so useful in other situations seem suddenly clunky and empty next to grief or death. Meaning hangs in the air without a verbal net to catch it. It weighs the air down and takes your heart with it. Death has always made me uncomfortably speechless. I don't know what to do with social niceties or sympathy cards, although I'm sure there are well penned ones. Above all, I don't want to be the one who adds to the suffering. I don't want to say the wrong thing. Rather than choose imperfect words that could damage, I am silent and heartbroken. Which is worse?

I don't know what to do when the body of someone I love is displayed in a casket. The first and nearest death I experienced, was when my Old Opa was laid to rest. I built an imaginary wall between myself and the cold metal casket. I could not have been more than eight or nine. We stood in a line: his daughters, their daughters and their daughters. When I peeked in, the first thing I noticed was that his body was not his self. It was that moment that I realized the miracle and sheer fragility of life. I wandered away near a staircase and stared at the ground. Underneath the stair was the body of a white moth, its wings were folded. Since that moment I have associated death with moths. Animated, living moths versus the shell of what was a moth. There is no moth in a dead shell. If you reach for what was the moth, it crumbles. It is dry dust. Even though the animation has ceased, the moth was and is- not just the sum of its parts but its actions too, fluttering, striving, seeking light. The actions themselves have ceased, but they were real and they cannot be made unreal. Even without the moth, I can close my eyes and recall each motion. My Old Opa is gone but I can recall perfectly the way it felt to hold his hand. The way his old skin felt like soft thin paper, yet they were warm and strong. The way his eyes lit up when he quoted his sweet poetry to me.

Whenever I have cried over the loss of someone, I find myself crying most for the survivors. For after all, the dead are done. It's we the living who must keep on with life at its hardest. They say time heals all wounds, but the loss of someone is not exactly like a scar or even a rejection. It's an emptiness, a lack, a place that can't be filled perfectly. Time cannot exactly heal that. It doesn't hurt any less when death is expected, although it can be less jarring. Loss doesn't hurt anyone less if they have the maturity of years. I'm not convinced it hurts less tiny children who might seem unaware. Death has no regard for age and neither does grief, and you can go on missing someone for a hundred years, crying tears as fresh as the day you were born or the day they passed on.

Only privileged children believe adults are immune to life and death blows, and the moment you realize the equal plane of vulnerability on which we all stand, it's a moment you never forget. In my own experience, a very old man (he was in his nineties) confided in me just how much he missed his mother. You never know how missing someone or something will effect a person. Bereft sounds like what it means, and it's probably the most accurate verbal net for describing this feeling.

I miss certain people almost every day. The pain can surprise you like a reflex, like a sudden memory. When you love someone, it doesn't stop. It's a strangely comforting yearning, even if it makes you sad. There are so many things I would love to say or ask my people who have gone on. The hours spent together now seem so precious and few.

The only thing more surprising than death is how life keeps going after death and how you eventually laugh in spite of it. Unexpected joy springs even in the middle of grief. Always surprising and up like a banner of sunflowers over a thicket of thistles and thorns.

For everyone who is missing someone, words are inadequate, but you're not alone.

I wish that no matter how lonely or sad or distraught, that you find such a banner. No matter how your eyes brim with tears or your belly fills with undisclosed regrets, may you have memories and discoveries to smile over and to share. 

Comb My Hair by Hamed Saber

These flowers are for you: Photography Blogger's Beautiful Sunflowers

Read about the symbolic meaning of sunflowers here.

<3

A Historical Local Lady & Her Russian "Sister"

Richmond, Indiana is a city hungry for history. We have a Football Hall of Fame, designated Historical Districts with fabulous architectural details, several published local historians, the Wayne County Historical Museum, Starr-Gennett Jazz History destinations and more! With all these things considered, you know we just can't get enough! How fun to dabble a bit and do some historical research myself, Local-Lady Style.

Here we go:

Here's the tale of two "sisters" who never met, yet they had much in common. If only we could travel in time & set them together for tea. Time is not the only barrier. Distance and language separate us too, but I can imagine. These women would have so much to talk about!

Julia Meek-Gaar: Photo Courtesy of WCHM/MRL

Julia Meek-Gaar lived in Richmond during a prosperous time. Julia married into the prominent, wealthy Gaar family who built their mini Hoosier empire by lead manufacturing threshing machines and steam engines in the 1840's.

Julia Meek may have been born in Iowa, but her family retained ties to the city of Richmond. During a visit, she met & fell in love with William Wallace Gaar. They were married in what was described as "the social event of the season", their elegant wedding in the year 1882. The young, prominent couple were among as many as 47 millionaires living in Richmond at that time. Their life together was not always elegant, and like so many real life romantic tales, it ended with some bitter disappointments.

Due to her husband's health issues, Will and Julia lived separate lives after their eighth year of marriage. For several years, she remained in Richmond as a single mother. However, when her son grew, she set off to travel the world and became a passionate collector. With her valuable souvenirs, she founded a unique museum with exhibits offering glimpses of the wide world beyond Richmond. The Wayne County Historical Museum is perhaps most famous for housing one of the last Egyptian mummies brought to the United States legally. Julia dedicated herself to acquiring and maintaining what Richmond enjoys today as a fun and educational museum experience. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe another woman had found herself on a similar path.

Mikhail Shankov: A Portrait of Anna Vasilevna Maraeva (2010)

 That woman, Anna Marayeva lived in Serpukhov, Russia, a city just outside of Moscow, which was founded (disputably) in the medieval era. In comparison to Serpukhov's ancient history, Richmond is a very young community. Serpukhov and Richmond were to become "Sister Cities", but that was long after Julia and her Russian counterpart Anna lived.  The Marayeva family built their empire on textiles, becoming one of the wealthiest families in their region.

When Anna's husband died, he left her in charge of the estate. To keep charge of her wealth was a battle, however. Reputably, a brother-in-law took Anna to court, attempting to acquire all of her late husband's assets. Anna spent large amounts of her money, before and during the legal battle that waged. She built a lavish mansion, and she too became an avid collector.

Anna, like many of her business merchant peers was very religious. Her passion was in seeking out ancient religious iconic art. Anna won the battle over money and went on in 1919 to nationalize her collection, which has gone on to expand and enjoy much acclaim. The mansion she built houses a collection that nearly makes tracing the evolution of Russian painting under one roof possible.

Anna Marayeva and Julia Meek-Gaar both lived in the XIX Century. Both lived their lives as single women who leveraged their resources to do more and see more than many of their peers. Both went on to found treasured community resources: The Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond and the Serpukhov Museum of History and Art, both still active today.

Although these women did not speak the same language, live in the same country or exist in the same time as we do in our current day, their similar experiences and interests, despite their differences, are a testament to the fact that it's a small world after all. The range of human emotions is not so wide that we cannot all find common ground as people no matter where, when or who we might be.

The motto of Sister Cities International is "Connect Globally. Thrive Locally.", may Richmond and her Sister Cities continue to connect and thrive. 

The Sister Cities Program in Richmond has existed since 1988. For a brief history of Richmond, Indiana's ties to Russia visit Neighbors East and West.



This photo of Serpukhov History and Art Museum is courtesy of TripAdvisor

 

Wayne County Historical Museum on a Penny Postcard: Image Source

Check back at the Local-Lady, a Hyper Local Richmond Blog, for more Stories Soon!

<3 the Local Gal

P.S.

As this is not a formal research paper, I have not included references. With interested parties, I'm happy to share more information & links! 

Special thanks to the Reference Desk at Morrison Reeves Library for their help in locating research materials in regards to Julia Meek-Gaar. Thank you!