I often find myself remembering my childhood. It was such a simple time back then. When I was five years old, we lived on what I thought was a huge street. It was just two lanes, but it was black topped and seemed very, very wide.

There's two things I remember happening when I lived on that big, wide street. The first was that World War II ended. Germany had surrendered. Hearing the news, my mother screamed, picked up a big pan and big spoon and ran right outside, beating that pan in celebration.

As I glanced down the streets all the ladies in the neighbor were beating pans and were
crying and laughing at the same time. It was a surreal sight so full of emotion. It felt like I was watching in slow motion.

Something scary also happened on that big, wide street. My mother called for my father and he dashed out the door with a broom in his hand. Coming across the massive road was a sewer rat heading for our house.

A sewer rat is the size of a Nutria rat and very scary. When threatened, a sewer rat stands it's ground and hisses. I have no idea how my dad killed that rat with a broom, but he did. And we all felt safe from anything that might come across that street.

On my last trip home I drove down that big, wide street and realized something: it was actually very small and not as wide as I remembered. Memory is a funny thing, isn't it?

Grandmother. Gardener. Mardi Gras fanatic. Guest writer Suzy Ryan does it all. Check out more of her heartwarming memories and funny stories here. If you have a question for The Woo or want to share your own story, drop a line: thewoo3@yahoo.com

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