There's no place like home...

Most would believe that I would call Centralia/Chehalis my home. After all I grew up more years of my life here. In fact 18 years to be exact. But it's not my "home".

In Olympia, Wa on the tip of the sound you find a little community called Boston Harbor. In a little rambler down a mostly dirt rd


at 7644 Jenni Street


lived the Chapman family. It was my parents first owned home and also the place where my best childhood memories lie.


-the house on the right.

The house was on 5 acres with so many trails, a beaver pond, including a bald eagles nest, and a path through Chapman Grove to the elementary school. Here we would spend hours and hours building forts, riding bikes, and trying to spot beavers. Our backyard was filled with garden beds, a swimming pool, the most awesome clubhouse, a trampoline and climbing ropes. My siblings and I loved it!

We went to Boston Harbor Elementary. The Old one.There were two buildings. An old white school house and a decrepit brick building. It was a small school. I liken it to Adna where my kids attend only smaller as there were only one grade per class. I attended both buildings from kindergarten through third grade. Next to the school was a forest where we would build forts at recess and then the boys in school would always try to get there first to claim them. Thankfully I was the fastest runner in my class.
During the year of third grade they tore down the woods and started building a new school. This is where I went for 4th and 5th.


I was selected to be on the committee to pick out new playground equipment.


The one on the right is it.

In 1st grade the boy I loved Justin Palmer gave me a ring. It was too big and I lost it a week later.

In 2nd grade I would stay in with my friends at recess to brush my teachers waist length hair.

In 3rd grade I started a pen pal club, a baby sitters little sister book club ( remember those books?), and a theatrics club. We would go perform our hand written plays to the 2nd graders.

In 4th grade my best friends and I started writing to eachother in code. We thought we were so clever.

In 5th grade we went to Cispus, I held the classroom pet, a king snake ( which actually got lost in our class once), and the boys wanted us to play spin the stick at recess.

I loved that school. I loved almost all my teachers there. Everyone knew everyone.

On the weekends or summer nights we would take visits to Burfoot Park and walk the trails to the sound. Or go down and view the marina.


My friend April Clara Reed and I would stomp on tar bubbles as we walked our way to the Marina Store to buy candy.



Then came the spring of 1993 and my parents found a humongous house in the city. We moved away from my home, my middle school (6th grade), my friends and that's how we ended up in Centralia.

I went back to the big city of Olympia for a couple years before Matt and I got married, but to this day if you ask me where home is I will tell you all my best memories and home were in Boston Harbor.

Posted By Brook