The day after Thanksgiving 1944. We had gone to my grandmother's.

[Lugnut]

70. I didn't arrive until September of 1945.

I remember going shopping with Mother in the small city nearby on a regular basis. The three department stores were owned and operated by local residents. Mother shopped a lot at her favorite store where the products were of very nice quality and stylish. I wore some pretty spiffy outfits when I was growing up.

There were all sorts of stores that offered various types of merchandise. The city was very busy on Saturdays as shoppers crowded the sidewalks. We'd usually have lunch at either the lunch counter at Kresge's 5 & 10 cent store or we'd walk to the Coney Island for hot dogs. Shopping day was a big deal that I always looked forward to.

The malls started opening when I was in my early 20s. I was married and had a baby boy when the first expanded strip mall opened. It was so convenient to have a grocery store, pharmacy, department store and other smaller specialty stores under one roof. A much bigger mall opened a few years later and the downtown started to die.

Downtown has never recovered.