Buehler

Amanda Buehler
ENGL 110 001
Professor Marion Bruner
22 September 2014
Memoir

My Safe Haven
On April 13th, 1996, the little suburban town of Simsbury, CT was
rocked forever with the addition of a smiling, hazel-eyed baby girl.
Horseshoe Circle was the center of birthday parties, family reunions and
emotional goodbyes. The three level house with blue shutters stood at the
front of the street when you entered. Within the three levels there was
enough room for a child to get lost; with three bedrooms, two bathrooms,
a kitchen, two living rooms and a basement, best hide-in-seek game ever.

But how do you say goodbye to something that was your home for eight

Figure 1. Circa 1998

amazing years and was filled from top to bottom with family memories?
Horseshoe Circle was approximately 1.86 miles or five minutes away from my
grandparents house on Firetown Road. Since the day I could walk, my parents would take me
through the backstreets to my grandparents those streets were lined with houses that looked
identical in architecture. Also, it was home to one aggressive Labordoodle by the name of Billy
screeching to life behind an invisible fence whenever someone passed, and the many moments of
myself falling and hurting myself on the stubby rocks. Every bruise, scrape and fearful cry
because of Billy, paints a vivid a picture of some of the greatest moments of my life. My

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grandparents house was the center of family gatherings and family traditions. Everyday on my
way to Kindergarten at Apple Tree, my driver would drive on Firetown Road around 12:05, and I
would gleefully jump out of the van and race to give both my grandparents a hug and kiss before
I went to school. My grandmother would have cookies and other delectable goodies set out the
Victorian counter in their kitchen. Even when my little sister and myself would ride home from
elementary on the school bus, our bus driver would deliberately drive by our grandparents so we
could wave to them.
My Horseshoe Circle home was spent with funny moments caught on videos that my
parents took. I can recollect when I had my third birthday party; I invited one of my teachers
over and literally took her on a 10 minute walkthrough of our house, showing her every room.
Another hilarious moment was at the end of my Blues Clues themed birthday party. While
everyone packed their belongings, I told them, Thank you for leaving! My mother has that on
video and bursts into laughter every time she sees it.
One of my final vivid memories spent up in Connecticut was when our family would
attend the Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus Christmas specials at Flaming Farms. One of the final
times we went as a family: my cousins, little sister and I spotted the Grinch after one of his failed
attempts to ruin the social, sitting on a tree stump near one of the barns. As young children we
decided that we should take matters into our own hands and deal with the Grinch how he
interrupted our time with Santa. We did not in fact know that our family was spectating this from
inside the cafeteria; and was recording it. On the video you can see four little pipsqueaks argue
with the Grinch, whom was five times as big as them all and deliberately start to punch and kick
the man. We would surround the Grinch from all sides and unleash a furry of attack moves until
he was on the ground or until Frosty the Snowman came over and lectured us about not hurting

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the Grinch. Our parents, grandparents and our aunt were laughing the whole time and greeted us
with applause when we walked back into the caf. The only downside to beating up the Grinch,
was that when he took off his costume, he was our driver for our horse ride around the land and
it got really awkward.
You would think that I would have forgotten every heartfelt, horrible or special moment
since I moved out of CT at age eight. Since we have left we have only been back to visit our
family around four times (one including attending my grandmothers funeral last year) and I still
pick out some of my favorite places in Simsbury and can go on for hours about different
memories that occurred. Janine, my sister, was too young to remember all the times we spent
roaming around Simsbury, so I usually refresh her memory. Even though I only lived in
Connecticut for the eight years of my life, it honestly feels like I just left it two years ago.
Whenever I think about the future, which is really scary at times, I just reminisce all the fun
times I got to spend with my family growing up in my little safe haven.

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Reflection on Simsbury:
The hardest part about this assignment would really have to be what information I would
bring to life for my audience to be captivated. There are so many great memories in my mind
that I have personally been through, so putting some of my favorites down on paper was the real
struggle. Some of the significant changes I made to my final paper would be: revisiting the
pictures on my page and taking out the unnecessary room within my paper, taking out excess
information that confused others and overall making sure that the paper flowed thoroughly. The
input that was truly helpful throughout the writing process was the corrections that Kelsey
provided for me. She explained that my stories were great memories, but I needed to shape the
edges a little. I think one of the best parts of my paper would have to be my story of the Grinch.
Christmas was spent plentiful for our family and it was tradition to go on the hay-rides and
Breakfast with Santa every year till we left CT. Those moments were pretty much some of the
last memories I have with my Aunt Joanne until her passing and seeing her come with us every
year are the things that I think about the most during the holiday season. If I had more time on
this paper, I would have tried to specify on one particular story of my paper and tried to
remember the specific moment as itself. But, overall I enjoyed writing this piece and I hope my
audience liked my recollections of my childhood.