Everyone knows someone from Ohio

I have a soft spot for Ohio. My mom grew up outside Cleveland and a lot of her relatives still live in the area. Between moves every summer, we would drive up to Ohio in our station wagon and hang out with our cousins for a couple weeks before it was time to pack up and ship out. I can remember being in awe of my aunts’ homes. They were so big and nice and their streets were perfect for roller skating and bike riding. I also first fell in love with shopping in Ohio when I discovered Hills, a discount department store. How could I not with a slogan like HILLS IS WHERE THE TOYS ARE?

My parents also met in Ohio.  My dad was in high school in England and had to apply to universities from across the ocean. Following in his father’s footsteps, he decided to join the army and enrolled in the military college, The Citadel. But after a year there, he decided it wasn’t for him (and if you heard the hazing stories you would see why). My dad knew only one other friend in college in the US and that friend went to Ohio University. So my dad decided to join him there.

One night at a bar where beer was like 25 cents a cup,  my mom, who was also a student at OU, saw this bald-headed guy enter the bar with their mutual friend. It was the early 1970s and everyone had long hair and facial hair. My dad, with a shaved head from military school, looked completely out of place. My mom loved it.

In an effort to get close to him, my mom asked if he would tutor her in economics. She went from a “B” to a “D” and the rest is history.

But when it came time for me to apply to college, I turned my nose up at Ohio. I wanted to go to Boston or New York. My parents made me go look at OU. My mom kept saying how beautiful the campus was and how good the Journalism school was. I sat in the car, arms crossed all the way across Maryland and West Virginia, irritated that I had to go to the middle-of-nowhere Ohio for the weekend. I wasn’t sure what to think of a school where the marching band was actually seen as cool.

I loved it. It really is the middle of nowhere and the town is all about the students. A place where the average age is 19 can’t be bad! It was certainly going to be different from Boston or NYC.

After being accepted into the Journalism school, I decided to go to OU and I have never regretted it. I have met some of my very best friends there. It is also a special place for my parents and when they would come to visit, it was neat to go to their old hangout spots and see that the bar they first met in is now a church. And beer, while still very cheap, is no longer that cheap.

Every once in awhile, you notice an Ohio University Bobcat sticker on a car in Florida or an OU sweatshirt on a kid at Heathrow airport.

I spent four years in Ohio and while I would never live there again, I am convinced some of the friendliest people are from Ohio. And while a lot of people in England have no idea what I’m talking about when I say Ohio, I still believe everyone knows someone from Ohio. It’s just that kind of place.

So yesterday morning while we were watching the news,  I was thrilled to see the spotlight on little, ol’ Athens, Ohio.  Usually you see OU on TV at Thanksgiving because famous alum Matt Lauer likes to include the marching band in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. But it was nice to see the actual school. Fox News was at OU all day long covering the youth vote. I watched debates between students and looked for old professors.

Ohio has picked the winning presidential nominee in every race in recent history and yesterday put the state on the map again, so to speak. I’m glad it also put Ohio University right on there too.