Goodbye to My Hellertown Readers

I love the rain. I especially love the kind of rain that causes the creek in Dimmick Park to rise and to send the water rushing. Summer is the perfect time for rain; in the fall and winter, you might wish the rain were snow. In the spring, rain can bring a chill when you’re beyond ready for warmer weather. But in summer, rain is right where it belongs.

Sometimes, where you yourself belong isn’t so abundantly clear. Your life’s seasons don’t always change with the grace of spring’s first flowers, or get your attention with the strong silence of December snow. 

I was born and raised in Hellertown, but during my four years of college in North Carolina, I felt that Hellertown and I had grown apart. When I moved back to Hellertown to earn a Creative Writing master’s degree at DeSales University, I didn’t know what to expect, but there was no time to dwell on it once classes began. I was living on Main Street and needed a place to study, because studying in my noisy and often-interrupted apartment was too distracting. There was only one thing to do: head to the Hellertown library. The library was where, as a kid, I used to sit reading I Spy and Scuppers the Sailor Dog. So I stuffed my books and papers and laptop into my backpack and went to work on my master’s thesis at the Hellertown library. If I needed a break, Miss Andrea was always ready with a smile and a chat. If I felt like shifting focus, I could turn to the 900s and browse the travel guides or maybe scan the headlines in the “Morning Call.” And if my mind wandered, it would take me to one of my favorite Hellertown spots: the Detwiller Plaza fountain. As a kid, my Dad would stop by the Dunkin across from the plaza on Sunday mornings to pick up a dozen donuts while my siblings and I waited excitedly in our car parked by the fountain. In those days my biggest worry in life was that Dad would forget to pick up a Boston crème donut for me. It was thoughts like these that punctuated my hours of study at the library. And it was there at the Hellertown Library that my master’s thesis took shape…exactly where it needed to be.

Soon after, I earned my master’s and presented my thesis successfully. And before I knew it, the time had come for me to apply to graduate school–a step closer to my dream of earning a PhD and teaching university students about the value of poetry. One April day the wind blew a Baylor University acceptance letter (and a lot of anxiety) into my mailbox. Mom and Dad were right there to celebrate with me, get me some Rita’s, and in place of a Boston creme donut, buy me a beer at Lost Tavern Brewing.

I was looking at five years living in sunny Waco, Texas, where Baylor University is located. Of course I was excited, but there was apprehension, too. Waco’s a long way from home and doesn’t get any of the snowy winters I love so much. But I told myself that if, as a 6 year-old, I could make it through the long eight minutes in the car waiting for Dad to come back with my donut, I could, as a 26 year-old, make it through the five years in Waco.

The move-in date for Baylor was in early July, so I didn’t have much time left in Hellertown. I made the most of it, though. I sat with my friends inside the cozy space of Nick’s and Noah’s while a storm blew past. The restaurant had become our monthly Saturday staple, and over pancakes and home fries, we discussed the logistics of a four-day trip to Texas. One day I found myself under the vintage Hellertown post office sign, mailing my last letter from home–a notification to someone in Waco, telling them I’d soon be there to pick up my apartment key. 

There will be sunny days on the Baylor U. campus, and there will be rainy days. At some point, I’m sure I’ll be walking back to my apartment after morning classes, and there will be a sudden downpour, and I’ll get completely soaked. I’ll enter my apartment, dripping, and have to feed the cat and find my rain boots before gathering books, pencils and laptop for a trip to the campus library. I don’t think that a typical day at Baylor will be as stress-free as a stroll in Dimmick, but I believe that I’m meant to be there. And of everything I will learn in the PhD program in Waco, Texas, the most important lesson will be one that, no matter the distance, Hellertown is, was, and always will be my home. 

P.S. The Friday before I left, I sat on my porch thinking about everything I’d miss about Hellertown: ice cream from Vassi’s, afternoons at the pool, fireworks at the Dewey carnival. I’d love to hear from Hellertonians who are still enjoying those things, and who are experiencing other Hellertown happenings, both good and bad. Please write to me and let me know what’s going on in my hometown. You can email me at [email protected]. Goodbye everyone, and thanks for reading!