Opinion

“Why, that’s Jay Rockefeller! He’s running for governor”

Don’t miss this sweet column by Mary Wade Burnside, features editor of the Exponent-Telegram in Clarksburg, who has lived elsewhere but keeps finding herself back home. Some excerpts:

“When I first returned to North Central West Virginia, I would marvel at the changes that had taken place. I could not walk up and down High Street in Morgantown without thinking about how my dad and I would go up there on some Saturdays and visit, among other stores, the now-gone National Record Mart, and how I got my pointe shoes from a retailer in one alley and my prom dress from a shop in another.

“And when I first got to Fairmont, I would think about how my family would drive W.Va. 73 for the 45-minute, pre-Interstate 79 trip from Clarksburg to Fairmont to visit my aunt; or how when Mary Lou Retton won the all-around gymnast gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics, my friend Jana and I went to her hometown to see the celebratory parade, making sure also to give a shout-out to Ed Etzel, who won a gold medal in rifle shooting, because we wanted to even the playing field a little bit…

…maybe one day I’ll be able to drive to work without noticing the big blank spot where Central Junior High was; or the First United Methodist Church next door without thinking about the time I was 8 and attended services with my cousin Jessica when a very tall man shook my hand. When I asked her who he was, my more politically astute cousin replied, “Why, that’s Jay Rockefeller! He’s running for governor.”

Click here for the full column.

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.