Each day I travel a total of two and half hours round trip to work and back home. Some think that is an awfully long time to stay in the car just for an internship. I would have to agree, but I have a lot of time to ponder about life.

I pass about five cemeteries on my drive to Noble County each day and as I drive by, I wonder who is buried there. Is the town founder buried next to his beloved wife? A mass murderer buried next to his victims? Or a newborn who never saw his/her first birthday?

However, unlike many unanswered stories, Noble County gives its residents and visitors a chance to find the answers concerning those who are buried in cemeteries such as Lake View, Oak Park, Old Kendallville Cemetery and Rose Hill. One can find the answer to who is buried at Wolf Lake Cemetery – Marvin Kuhns - because of a trail that started back in 2010 called the Tombstone Trail.

I have worked exclusively with stories about people buried in Noble County for the past month. It has come to the point where I feel like I know them and feel for their tragic deaths from wars and sickness.

I have laughed at their crazy adventures, especially those of Cora Anderson aka Ralph Kerwineo, who because she could not get a decent job as a black unmarried woman, decided to impersonate a man and marry her roommate Mamie.

Other stories have led me to understand the rich history behind Noble County. I have learned about the “Ligonier Quality Bakery” or as most of you know it, “Creps.” After editing that story, I started craving a doughnut.

Yet, so many stories are still left untold in these cemeteries. No one will know about Charles W. Palmer, a boy at the age of 19 who died from a heart displacement. He is buried at Rose Hill, though not many people know about him.

There is so much history in your own backyard, not just in Noble County. Will you take the time to discover it?

Last week, we had a work day at the Sower Farmhouse, the soon-to-be home of the Noble County Convention and Visitor Bureau. I painted windows, walked along the grounds and began to imagine what it must have been like to live here in the late 1880’s as one of the Sower family’s daughters.

The farmhouse is two stories tall and surrounded by trees, fields and sits on a little hill.  So, as I was painting I began to imagine children acting and dressing like one might see on Little House on the Prairie.

I pictured cows mooing in the distance, chickens pecking at the ground, while Father and the men work in the fields. I see Mother in the house sewing, cooking and doing house chores with the older children. The younger kids are exploring the grounds, rolling down the hill, and climbing trees.

I even see myself, underneath the willow tree, reading a book by the Bronte sisters as my hair blows in the wind.

Though, it amazes me how this house is still standing after 130-plus years. The stories that this house could tell from births, deaths and all the events in between. It could tell you about every screaming match, every tear shed and every laughter heard.

Each room could tell you a different story about life and love. Family moments such as first steps, or the time a young gentleman asked the father for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

I can imagine all of this from just a day of painting. It leads me to wonder what kind of story my own house can tell. What if houses could actually talk? What would your house say about you and your family?

Last week as it was pouring down rain, Tummy, the name I gave my stomach, began to have yet another hissy fit because I had yet to feed him. I found myself craving pizza. I knew I did not want your normal pizza chain such as Pizza Hut® or Papa John’s®. So, after asking around the office, I decided to venture outside and took about 10 whole steps in the rain before turning to the pizza parlor next door.

Pizza Forum, as the chain is known around Noble County, looked really familiar from the menu, set-up of the building and even the pizza boxes! I felt like I was having a case of Déjà vu, yet I have never heard of the chain. It was not until I took a really close look at the menu that everything clicked into place! I had just entered into a spin-off of one of my favorite pizza parlor from Indianapolis.

I thought, “Could it be? Am I actually going to get Greek Pizzeria, all the up here?”

The answer of course was YES. Pizza Forum had co-branded with Greek’s!

After I placed my order, I waited impatiently, water starting to from drool as I let the smell wrap itself around me as if giving me a much needed hug.

As I watched the waitress bring over my pepperoni pizza, I could not help but think she was walking in slow motion making me wait even longer to devour this pizza that Tummy and I so desperately wanted. Once the pizza arrived, I took my first bite and with my eyes closed, I felt like I was back in Broad Ripple eating my pepperoni pizza as I people watched through the windows looking out towards the Broad Ripple Firehouse.

It does not take much for a city girl to find a touch of home in a small town!