My last post was a year ago, and life happened. I was on a sabbatical to travel back to St. Louis to complete the book in spring of 2020, and, well, the world as we knew it ended for a while.
Life happens, but fortunately, life is still happening. I am saddened by the illness and death that surrounds us all in this pandemic. There were bigger things to worry about than finishing this book, and now things seem to be taking a turn towards the better. I’m thankful that we’re finally healing. I’m thankful that my family and many friends are doing well, all strong survivors of a year that has robbed us of time and of comfort. In February of 2020, I abandoned books, clothes, and other items in St. Louis, thinking I would simply return in a few week’s time to finish out my spring and summer of writing. I haven’t been back since, my longest stint ever away from home.
Finally, I be back in St. Louis this summer and will wrap up the editing. This unpredictable year has given me the time to dive into the details; all of the statistics, the excuses, and the wistful thinking that has taken Carrollton away from us. All that is left of this project is to finish selecting the stories that so many of you wonderful individuals have submitted here over the years. I thank you deeply for your contributions, and will be reading through them once again in the coming months and highlight them here.
This project has been my Don Quixote, but I’m no longer tilting at windmills. The research is done, the history of our corner of the world collected into one body of over 250 pages of text.
J. Desy Schoenewies
56 Houses Left 