The Former State Of The State

In so many ways, I had a totally normal childhood for the time in which I was raised. But there was one facet of my childhood that was far from normal, and I enjoyed it so much.

When I was three, my maternal grandparents moved from our local community to Jefferson City, the capital of the State of Missouri. I was young enough that I don't remember their living in our neighborhood. My cousin, who's nine months older than me, has vivid memories of running after their vehicle, crying, when they left for that “long” move.

After years of working on farms belonging to other people, my grandfather got a job with the State of Missouri as a security guard. The first year they lived in Jefferson City, he worked at the State Penitentiary for men, which was located at that time in Jefferson City. After about a year, he transferred to guard the Governor's Mansion. That's when our adventures really began.

The inmates at the State Penitentiary made tooled leather goods to sell. There was a display room where people could go in and view the items for sale. Now, whether the general public could go in there or not, I don't remember. But, as family members, we got to. I'll never forget the scary feeling of being between two heavy, locked doors as we entered from the public area to the private area of the penitentiary. I hated that place! However, we all got cool stuff. Grandad was able to get custom-made items for us. For years I had a beautiful brown leather purse with my name on it.

I don't know if it was the same trip or not, but I have strong memories of going to visit them over Thanksgiving, before I started school. Mom and I rode with my aunt and uncle, my two cousins, and their neighborhood friend. At that time, Grandma and Grandad lived in an apartment. It seemed closed to downtown Jefferson City to me. We enjoyed exploring the stores. The neighborhood friend of my cousin had some spending money and she got a wonderful paper doll set. I wanted some of those paper dolls so much and was devastated when Mom said “no”. Luckily, it was close enough to Christmas that Santa was evidently listening, because he left me those same paper dolls under the tree.

Over the next eight years, we had great visits to Jefferson City. Every time we went, we would ride to work with Grandad at least one day and explore the area around the Capitol and Governor's Mansion. I have memories of getting a drink of water in the Mansion kitchen during hot weather. I also have memories of accidentally stepping on the edge of a flower bed on the Mansion lawn and Grandad telling me I would get arrested if I did it again. He was a tease.

We always enjoyed going to the Capitol and browsing through the museum on the ground level. At that time, it was a really great museum, with interactive displays. Walking from the Mansion to the Capitol, we walked past the Supreme Court Building. There was always a beautiful flower garden at the Capitol in the shape of the State, using different flowers. Both the Capitol and the Governor's Mansion overlook the Missouri River. After our adventures, we would walk back to Grandma and Grandad's house.

My most memorable year was later during their time of living in Jefferson City – I can't remember how old I was that summer. But Grandad had made arrangements with Governor John Dalton for us to meet him in his office in the Capitol. There was a photographer there, and the picture of me sitting at the Governor's desk still hangs on the wall of our home. That was special.

The trips to Jefferson City were so fun – there were so many kids in Grandma and Grandad's neighborhood for me to play with during that week. And there was an ice cream truck that came by their house every afternoon. I saved my money for weeks before vacation to have money to run to the curb every time I heard “Bicycle Built For Two” chiming through the air. What a wonderful break from the norm!