Nostalgia and Memory Lane

Nostalgia and Memory Lane Romeo Michigan
Last evening I spent going down memory lane with my cousin David Riffel and his wife Miriam. David lives in Romeo, Michigan and he and I grew up together in and around the Detroit and Windsor area. One summer when I was about 14 years of age we spent the whole summer together as kids at my sister Pearl’s lake house enjoying the water and all of the other things that kids did in those days just being out in the channels and lake and exploring and having adventures.
This morning I visited with David’s brother Ed and had a great time with he and his wife Susan. Ed squeezed me in between his patients, as he is a chiropractor here in Romeo.
I also went to the Rapp Farms where I picked peaches and apples and pears and grapes as a youngster of about 7-12 years of age. Mr. Rapp (Herman) owned orchards here and sold the fruit in a large stand by the then road and people from Detroit would come out and buy bushel baskets and peck baskets of fruit from him. Well this is now all built up but I did find the old farmhouse and even located Carli Rapp (whom I picked fruit with and loaded the truck and wagon behind it with bushel baskets of fruit and even took the apples to crushed into cider). We had a great time talking and going over how the farm used to be run and what was then involved in growing and picking the fruit. The Rapp farm is much reduced in size (land development and shopping centers) and he is retired now but some of the acreage is still leased out to other farmers in the area. I even got to pick a couple of apples while I was here and that sure brought back memories.
This afternoon I will help David with some archery event that he is holding on his property and tomorrow I will head toward Windsor and Canada, but it sure has been fun being in this area and seeing relatives that I have not seen in decades and visiting a farm I have not been on in 50+ years. You see the white haired guy has been around a looooooong, looooong time.
1 The old Rapp farmhouse
2 Carli and I just kids in the orchard again
3 Rapp Farms sign
4 Ed and Susan Riffel