I was born in Huntington, WV at Cabell County Hospital. My dad had been raised in Huntington and my mom was from across the river in Ohio. Since my dad worked for Eastern Airlines, he moved us near Eastern’s hub which was Miami. Growing up on Florida was fun, but, thankfully, my grandparents still all lived in Huntington. Since we flew for cheap, I went to Huntington every summer. In fact, it was so cheap for us to fly, sometimes my mom would fly us up and drop us off and then return back home to Florida! I loved my summers with grandma. Ok, so she never let my sister and I off the hill, but there were lots of kids to play with that lived on the same street, so it was fun. We used to go to Ritter Park, Greenbrier pool and to the Methodist Church on 9th street. Dinner out was a special occasion and we’d go to Jim’s Spagetti. Who can forget hotdogs and root beer from Stewarts or ice-cream from Dairy Queen? I miss the REAL downtown – like Anderson Newcomb and the brass pipe that the salesperson sent my grandmother’s check up in. What a sound it made!!

The smell of summer and newly cut grass from Huntington are some of my favorite smells. Or peaches and nectarines that we bought roadside. I was always so proud and happy to be from Huntington. The people were great and I always thought “I wish I grew up in Huntington instead of Florida.

–Michelle Wright