Thursday, 5/5

I had no idea the topic would be so popular.

Two days ago in here I posted one of the “Pieces of the Past” videos I make. The same day I stuck it up on Facebook where, as I write this 40-ish hours later, it has accumulated several hundred likes, 60 shares and almost 90 comments.

Who knew so many people liked the Marquette Branch Prison Gift Shop?

And when I say “liked” I really mean “liked”. People were sharing memories about what they saw there, many even snapped and posted pictures of items they had bought, and the overwhelming majority expressed disappointment that it's no longer around.

I'm glad I could share that with them.

Of course, as with everything there's a little twist to the whole affair. As people were sharing their memories with me I realized something that, I guess, I'd never before considered. Remember in yesterday's blog when I shared a deep dark secret...namely, how I've never watched a “Harry Potter” movie? Well, here's another deep dark secret--

Do you know that I don't think I ever went to the Prison Gift Shop? Unless someone brought me there when I was a real little kid (which is, of course, a possibility) I never set foot inside the Prison Gift Shop. I mean, I probably rode past it thousands of times before it closed in 2002, but as far as I can recall I never once set foot inside.

Yup. Even though I was born here and grew up here and lived here for decades while it was open, I never once visited the Prison Gift Shop.

I'm also the only person living in our apartment that never visited the Gift Shop. Loraine has memories of stopping in there with her parents when she was young and they were driving up to Houghton to visit her aunt. She grew up 400 miles from here and visited the Prison Gift Shop. Me, who grew up four miles from the Prison Gift Shop?

Not so much.

So while a whole bunch of people are sharing their fond memories of the place with me, I've now shared that deep dark personal secret with you. I'm glad that I allowed everyone who checked out the video the chance to relive that small part of their life, even if I can't relate 100% to what they're saying and what they're feeling.

That's what these videos are all about, after all.

(jim@wmqt.com)