It really is a small world after all
We’ve all heard it said, “It’s a small world.”
When I joined the staff of the Daily American Republic in mid-July, I learned just how small.
As a retired teacher who has taught all over Southeast Missouri, it’s not uncommon for me to run into former students. I wondered how long it would be.
..not long at all.
At the third event I covered, I ran into not one but two. Both were from the same high school. I recognized them before they did me. If my calculations were correct, they would have been part of my English class my first or second year.
We took our photos together and exchanged phone numbers.
During my first week in the office, I looked out the window, and I just on kept looking. One of the other staff members asked what was wrong. I must have stared out there for a while.
“The Wiseman’s have a park?” I asked.
“Yes,” my co-worker said.
He wondered what the big deal was.
I said, “My maiden name was Wiseman. Why was I never told that we had a park? We could have been having reunions there.”
I could barely wait to call my parents to quiz them about Wiseman Park to see if I was the only person who had been left in the dark about the park.
When my sister came to visit from Jackson, we took photos of the white sign with red letters. We drove over the railroad tracks so we could see the full extent of the park.
I even sent my daughters photos of the sign. We drove over the railroad tracks to discover of this lovely park.
Now, that I have been learning my way around Bluff, I know the locals call the Black River Coliseum, BOB for short. I know exactly where Broseley is, and Fisk, and I can properly pronounce, Qulin.
But, I still have no clue as to why my father, a very wise man, who was born and raised in Brownwood, a suburb of Advance, never bothered to tell me about Wiseman Park.
Dawn Bollinger is a staff writer at the Daily American Republic and can be reached at dbollinger.dar@gmail.com.
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