I’m beginning to understand how my dad felt in the 1980s and 1990s when he came back to Springfield, Mo., for annual family reunions. Although he grew up in the city, much had changed because he had been gone for half a century.
My wife Patty and I spent last weekend in Columbia, where I went to the University of Missouri Journalism School more than 30 years ago. Every time I go back I can’t believe how much the city has changed.
There are new roads, subdivisions and shopping areas where none existed when I last visited just four years ago. Columbia had a population of around 60,000 when I lived there; now it’s 110,000. Considering how the student population has grown in the same time span, Columbia now has twice as many residents than in 1980.
We visited with our good friends John and Liz Moran, whom we have known since the days when Patty and Liz worked in the same office at the university. The Morans and the Kennedys now each have three adult sons; we had none when we met. Driving to Columbia now takes under three hours, what with a Highway 54 expressway bypassing the bumper-to-bumper traffic around Osage Beach.
Columbia is a progressive city, with scenic beauty, a lively entertainment scene and a low cost of living. I wouldn’t mind moving back someday.
No comments:
Post a Comment