Many of our fondest memories reach back into our childhood. We can remember the way our kitchens smelled, our group of neighborhood friends, and those who touched our lives as children, shaping us into the adults we would become. It is our collection of memories that ingrains our hometowns into our minds.
There is just something extra special about small towns. People are willing to share their stories without hesitation, and they have a unique kinship with one another that cannot be found anywhere else. There is a powerful sense of community. Neighbors know one another by name and nonchalantly wave to one another on the street as second nature. Some people say, “Home is where the heart is,” and for most individuals, the town in which you grew up is a particularly important and integral part of your very persona.
I am Diane Taylor Roberts, and I was raised in Williamsburg, Kentucky. I grew up on the lower end of Highland Park. Growing up in rural Southeastern Kentucky in the 1960’s was a remarkable experience. I can still vividly smell the scent of new shoes at Bailey‘s Country Store the week before school would begin for the new school year or the taste of homemade pies at Southern Rose Cafeteria on Highway 25W. I still become nostalgic when I slowly drive through Main Street in Williamsburg, and am filled with remembrances of listening for the cockatoo squawk in a cage in the back of Richardsons Five and Ten, sitting on the stool at the lunch counter at City Drug and smelling the fresh popped popcorn at the Lane Theater.
As a graduate of St. Camillus Academy High School in Corbin, and Cumberland College in Williamsburg, I am now retired after a rewarding career in social work and health care.
I am the author of the book, “That’s What I Thought.” It is a coming of age memoir, that transports readers to a simpler time. Back to childhood, where lifelong bonds were forged with family, friends, and neighbors, and where a foundation of values was built that lasts a lifetime.
I am excited about writing a column in the News Journal. This column will be a place where I can share my thoughts on the things that matter to me, and share the stories of the most interesting individuals in the surrounding area. We will be celebrating the people, places, and stories that make our area unique. There is a story around every corner, if you only know where to look.
Everyone has a story, a uniqueness that is theirs alone. Everyone sees things differently and through their own perspective. This is my perspective and “That’s What I Thought.”
