Peace Love Libertyville

barrelmakersdaughter.com ♦ June 22, 2012 ♦ 2 Comments

Sometimes the greatest love affairs are not with people, but with places. Maybe a place you can only dream of visiting, maybe a place you visited and fell in love with…or maybe a place you lived that never left your heart.

From ages nine to fifteen, I lived in Libertyville, Illinois; for me it was the ideal place to grow up. Granted, that is a fairly carefree age bracket, and it was a simpler time. My friends and I could jump on our bikes, leaving in the morning and returning for dinner without our parents having to worry much, if at all. But it was more than that. Libertyville was a beautiful old suburb, with century homes, century buildings full of shops in the downtown, churches on many corners, a local lake, a movie theater many of us could walk to, a historic train depot, a community pool, and parks galore, including one in the center of town with the library and a founding father’s historic home as the focal point. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect town. My description can’t possibly do it justice. Libertyville of my youth was a magical place.

Since moving out-of-state in 1978, I had the opportunity to pass through the town 2 or 3 times in the intervening years. The highlight was always driving past the house my parents built on Appley Avenue; I always wanted to see how it looked, if it was being kept up and how the neighborhood was doing. A couple of times I took pictures of the house to document my drive by. It was reassuring to see it cared for and well-loved, as I remember all the time my parents took with the choices that went into the construction of the home.

Last year, thanks to Facebook, I visited Libertyville for more than just a quick drive through. I was invited to be a part of the 30th reunion for the Libertyville High School Class of 1981. This is the class I would have graduated with had my family not moved to Minnesota the summer prior to my sophomore year. Making the invitation more special is that it came from the girl I most idolized my whole time in Libertyville, Deryn. Back in school she was everything I wanted to be, and here she was inviting me! She shared that the committee was reaching out to people who had moved away before graduation to be a part of the reunion. Because of Facebook, I was one of those lucky invitees. I put the date on the calendar and began to get excited…and I began to fret. It had been 33 years since I had seen these former classmates…Would I be welcomed? Would I be recognized? Would I be an interloper?

The reunion itself was a challenge for me. I am an introvert and walking into a group setting alone is always very tough for me. We introverts find such social interactions taxing, especially as a solo venture. But I got myself ready, got myself there, took a deep breath and in I went. There were some familiar faces and many more familiar names. It took all my courage to walk up to people and start conversations, but I did it. I was able to reconnect with some friends after more than three decades. I also made new friends that night who I hadn’t gotten to know well (or at all) at the high school. Because of Facebook I am able to keep these old and new friendships going. In fact, my next day trip is to see one friend whose band is playing close enough to St. Louis that I can go see them. (Free plug for Purple Hank playing September 8th in Carbondale and Vienna, IL. They’re great–check them out!) A special part of the evening was the power point of candid and posed pictures, showing on continuous loop. The photos flashed the story of what life had been like at LHS for everyone who got to stay and graduate a Wildcat. In a way it was closure to see a glimpse of all I’d missed.

I only stayed about 90 minutes–for me it felt like several hours. But that’s what it is like for an introvert–a little goes a long way in a group social setting. While the reunion was the reason I traveled there, the highlight for me was Libertyville itself. Prior to the reunion, I spent the morning and afternoon exploring my town. What a day it had been.

I needn’t have worried that my memories had been whitewashed by time and my youth. The town was as special as I remembered. I spent the day driving around town and exploring the shops (the photo is of my prized purchase, which I use every morning for my once daily Diet Coke.) Getting my lunch from a cute sandwich shop was a highlight for three reasons: The woman behind the counter asked me what kind of “pop” I wanted with my sandwich (I almost hugged her–I’m forced to call it “soda” down in St. Louis), the food was fabulous, and I was able to sit and eat it at a picnic table in Cook Memorial Park in the center of town. I watched families going about their Saturday errands, just as my family had so long ago. I couldn’t help but smile. The pace here felt a little slower than everywhere else. That was probably my imagination–I’m sure the parents were harried and tight on time. But then again, maybe things are still a little different in Libertyville. After all, Henry Yee’s Restaurant and Arden’s Furniture Store were still admitting customers, just as they had so long ago. And the Appley Avenue house looked fantastic, too. I think I was right all along: Libertyville is a magical place.

I know they say you can’t go home again, but perhaps there are rare exceptions. My visit found Libertyville not only great, but thriving and better than ever. Maybe when it comes to affairs of the heart, the safest love to revisit is a place, not a person. My old love, Libertyville, is the one old love who won’t break my heart.