Where I Come From

Some people wonder how Kelsey and I can live with this "junk" on our wall. Most of the items on our wall show the stupidity of our world - mostly Wheeling, our home town. Wheeling isn't a big metropolitan city like NYC or the happening-place-to-be like Miami. But it sure has a lot of representation on our wall, including a magazine dedicated to the city. Our first thoughts were, "Really? What is there to display in a magazine?"

One of our most recent additions to the wall happened over the four-week Winter Break of 2007. Wheeling has been growing little by little economically. With the new mall-type shopping at The Highlands and the plans to build an amusement park behind it, Wheeling is rising from the slums we grew up in. So it's no surprise to us to be gone a few months and a new business pops up. A Tim Horton's replaced an abandoned building when Raxx went out of business six years ago. It's located across a thriving Sheetz gasoline and food station. Kelsey tried the new coffee/pastry cafe to rank the coffee to those bean-brewing giants of Starbucks, Seattle Joes, and Gloria Jeans.

The experience was horrible, the coffee didn't come in any variety that our culture is used to with places like Starbucks, and the soup wasn't prepared ahead of time. Kelsey took some reading materials to try to pass the time before her sandwich was done. She couldn't believe that she had stumbled across extraordinary pieces to add to our collection. Fliers, normal advertising fliers for trips and mini vacations our region has to offer. One pamphlet she was reading talked about trips to a brown bag tour through Wooster, Ohio. Kelsey and I couldn't resist the thought of taking a trip just to get the can of soup, and not just any soup, Campbell's Soup. What a prize! We signed up that day.

The Wheeling Register, the only paper in the city, is chuck full of interesting stories and characters. Kelsey's mother frequently sends us the most interesting ones to inform us of what's going on at home as well as add to our wall. Mostly the articles are police reports and bad happens we would find some humor in. Now, don't get me wrong, Wheeling isn't a bad place to live or raise children, but no town or city is crime-free. Just fence in your inflatables during the holiday season. Usually we would read the article a few times pointing out the stupidity in the criminals, mostly when they would deny the crime.

Our favorite one is "Hugh Huffer." He is the first article Kelsey's mother sent us and immediately we had to put him and his ridiculous face on our wall. But it didn't stop there. After we told "Birds" (Kelsey's Mom's nickname), she continued to send us stories from the crime section and most of the time, the arrested individual went to high school or even graduated with us. Some of their crimes are so profoundly disturbing it makes Charles Manson look like a saint.



The Most Unlikely Superhero
Our House
My Birthday

Back To Written On The Wall
The End Of An Era