Winooski, VT

Each time my husband and I return to the hometown he left at nineteen to join the service, he first visits his parents. The steeple at the top of the hill is a giant dart directing us to the cemetery behind the church. We wend our way among the rows and rows, brightened with flowering plants, to the family headstone. He moves his fingers along the granite, recites names and dates aloud, stops to see his aunt and uncle, their resting places nearby.

We cruise the streets he knows so well, points out names and places, talks of his first job at the Grand Union. We stop— he inhales forever childhood memories from the car window — the front porch glider, driveway for his old VW, backyard for playing sports in season, maple tree out front, recalls raking leaves into a pyramid with his brothers. At the crack of a match, they would circle the glow, smelling smokey scents in the autumn air.

By the river he recalls the woolen mills, employer of most of the town. Now repurposed as offices, shops, historical society displays, and Water Works— where we grab a table by the window to view waters tumbling over the angry falls, rapids swallowing rocks, rushing under the local bridge that leads to the city.

Lois Perch Villemaire is the author of “My Eight Greats,” a family history in poetry and prose published in 2023. Her work has appeared in such places as Blue Mountain Review, Ekphrastic Review, One Art: A Journal of Poetry, Pen In Hand and Topical Poetry. Anthologies, including I Am My Father’s Daughter and Truth Serum Press - Lifespan Series have published her memoir and poetry. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Lois lives in Annapolis, MD, where she enjoys yoga, researching family connections, fun photography, and doting over her African violets.