Four Walls

We could be born to anything

What you have done is terrible

And now you carry it with you

and now we're faced with two wrongs

There's no view from here 

Door County; the waving hand of Wisconsin is well loved.

Millions of tourists flock to the ever charming and enchanting place each season all year long.

I am especially proud that my bloodline runs deep there. It was my own family who began Door County itself.

I can feel family pride in the air whenever I visit.

My great, great, great grandfather before me - A British man started it all.

My family history sits in a museum. Even the chair my grandfather died in is there.

Writing has been a love in this family long before me and I am proud to carry it on.

Yet there is a darker side of my history.

A side that isn't talked about much.

My skin chilled as I read an article about my grandpa recently.

He was my age.

He was my age when he got the phone call.

On June 29th, 1953, my great grandparents were murdered.

The 14 year old boy who was their neighbor wanted their car.

So he stabbed my great grandmother.

He hid in the closet and waited for my great grandfather to come home.

When he arrived home, the boy followed through with his plan and succeeded.

He left a note in his own home confessing the murder, stole my family's car, and fled the country.

Eventually he was found and put in juvenile detention.

The part that I hate is, he wasn't in detention for very long.

And on this day the boy who put blood in his hands is free.

He killed my family.

He KILLED my family and he is free.

He changed my grandfather's life.

He changed our history written in the books.

The murder of my great grandparents is now talked about on a "Ghost tour" around Door County. God knows how many ears this horrific story has touched.

What bothers me is this "Ghost tour" is for fun.

The murders of Door County are used as something to give tourists a funny chill.  

To create a spooky time.

But I see nothing funny about it.

When I decided to do some research about my family I came across the picture below on ebay.

It was being sold.

Sold for a price to buy.

Who the hell would want to buy that?

And why?!

Part of me wants to face this killer and ask him why.

Why did he decide to kill my family?

All for a car? All for attention? How could he?

I shiver at the thought of him. His sickening face. That smile of his. He looks innocent, but knowing his back story makes it all the more eerie.

What had come over him to do this? What triggered it?

He had apparently worked for my great grandparents.

He mowed their lawn. He fixed broken things. He was probably a friend to them. Someone they trusted.

It is something I will never understand.

And it is something that will be apart of my own history forever.

The other day my mother told me a story.

She had a cat named charcoal whom she loved dearly.

And one day he disappeared.

She looked for charcoal all over town.

And she finally found him at a home in the neighborhood.

Little did she know, but the house he was hanging around was her deceased grandparents home.

The woman who answered the door informed her.

After getting her charcoal back my mother called him by his name...but he wouldn't come to her.

She tried other names..but still her cat would not run to her.

She then called the cat by my great grandfather's name..

and charcoal came to her.

After that, he only responded if she called him her grandfather's name.

As this fall begins, as the trees burst to different colors, families from all over the country will travel to Door County for holiday.

For fun. For a good time.

The oar boats will sound. The seagulls will fly above. The lakes will crash. Cars will pass.

The shops will glow, heat will turn on, fires will blaze, and the fall weather will wash over everyone as magic.

The Ghost tour will begin, tickets will be paid for, and the story of my family's fate will be told.

And somewhere in this world, the man who murdered two people as a boy will be walking down the road.

Author's Note

Reviews

[Writing Angel]

That's terrible... wow just wow

[dan]

What a horrible thing to know this monster is out free and your memories are haunted by his presence. You and your family have such a rich history in the area; to have it sullied by such an unspeakable act and to have it featured for consumption by tourists is hard to fathom. Thank you for telling the story, Kathryn...maybe it will help you learn to live with it through its retelling. take care...dan

[EvaThornburn]

There is so much to get out of reading this poem. So many emotions all rolled together. Keeps the reader interested from start to finish. Thanks, for sharing. Eva

[Fahmida Mehreen]

The best part of this piece are the metaphors, especially the one in regards to family. Intense and with touch of reality. One cannot simply pass through this without thinking. Good work. Much appreciable.

[wordman]

sad situation,murder and ma ham,powerful write

[Kathryn Smith]

Thanks Wordman!!

[R J Askew]

Intense writing with a purpose and passion. And it reminds us that events in history were very real for those involved and are far more than the mere subjects of passing amusement for the paying public who roll up for an idle hour and maybe an ice cream.

[Kathryn Smith]

Thanks! I think once people really sit back and think about it more respect is given. :) Thanks for the review. xx

[Coyote Poetry]

Dear Kathryn. A sad and powerful story told. Non-fiction is more frightening than fiction. Thank you for sharing this story.
Coyote

[Kathryn Smith]

Thank you! and yes, very true..

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome dear friend.