Just Passing Through

It just dawned on me that this week marks 20 years since I moved to Wisconsin Rapids. That's right, two decades. And I was just passing through, wasn't I?

After college, I had lived in Marinette for nearly 4 years, then in Eau Claire for not even 2. I headed to Rapids for a job at the newspaper, which was bigger than the previous 2 I'd worked for. I figured, eventually, I'd move on again to an even bigger paper. After 7 years at the Trib, I did move on to a larger publishing venture... but stayed in town.

Could have something to do with the brown-eyed wonders in my life!

It was a different town when I moved here. Not quite as old as that postcard above, but it gives a visual of a bustling downtown that now has transitioned its "business district," so to speak, to a bustling 8th Street. When I first got into town they were expanding 8th Street for that purpose so I didn't even know what the city had to offer since I couldn't find my way around that construction!

At that time, too, going from Rapids to Plover and Stevens Point, was a two-lane highway. Not long after, they started construction on widening it to 4 lanes with a 65 mph speed limit. That sure came in handy when I "left" town to work in Iola!

There used to be a regular-sized Wal-Mart and ShopKo and pretty big Kmart. Then Wal-Mart supersized and Kmart (and a few locally owned grocery stores) closed their doors. Shopko is still open, but Younkers, Foot Locker and some others have left.

It took me awhile to get used to the "smell of money," which I just considered a disgusting paper mill odor, but I did recognize right away that the mill (which has changed names at least 4 times since I've been here) was the backbone of the economy. Thousands of residents worked there until downsizing began with new ownership and changes in the market.

It's strange that at my arrival, my current employer was just a start-up company getting its legs. Now, depending on how many workers the mills still employ, it is at least the second largest employer in town.

Times sure change in a town that "doesn't change much"!

Am I still just passing through? Only God knows. Things obviously don't go how I plan them.

And thank the Lord they don't! Still, the biggest change is the number of people who I did not even know existed 20 years ago and have since found a place in my heart.

I wouldn't change that for the world.