Lewthwaite's Drugstore

There are many places that are etched in my memory that will never leave me. They were imprinted there when I was a very little girl...those kinds of memories are the strongest there are. Today, I can forget where I put my keys or cell phone at a moment's notice, but these memories not only remain, but often come unbidden to the forefront of my mind.

But I don't mind at all, because they are like old friends. I enjoy revisiting them over and over. One group of such memories are those of place. And one of them, is of the Lewthwaite¹ Drugstore in Emerson...

One of the things I remember about the drugstore wasn't in the store itself but in the back behind it. The pharmacy was located on the corner of two streets. One side of the building butted up against its neighbor to the north (which I think was the Sawatzky Brothers grocery store), while the south side faced the adjacent street. Behind it to the east was the back yard with a high wall between it and the sidewalk. The druggist and his family lived over the store, so that was their private back yard. Despite the high wall, I could see they had something very intriguing to my young eyes - a tree house. And not just any tree house, but an amazing tree house. A tree house worthy of the Swizz Family Robinson. It was built up in the branches of an old large oak or elm tree.

¹ - (Origin Anglo-Saxon) From thwaite, a piece of ground cleared of wood, and lowe, a hill, law, a hill or eminence; in Saxon, Hlewe.