When I was a boy, I didn’t live in a big city. In fact, I didn’t live somewhere interesting at all. Quiet, safe. Filled with working class people trying to live an honest life. Though in my neighborhood, growing up we did know most everybody. There were always neighborhood parties going on for some reason or another. Some of my earliest “best friends” were the children of my parents’ friends.  

Driving over the ninth street bridge, one line of the green sign read “Lockport” the next read “14,000” or so. Not exactly horse and buggy territory but small enough to not warrant the need for a Taco Bell. That would later become the talk of the town when not only did we get a Taco Bell, but a Taco Bell/KFC combination store. It was such a treat when my brothers and I would drive a town or two over just to get some late night tacos or White Castle. 

Passing through state street, an abundance of bars and small shops surrounded us. My Father would joke “Yeah Shaun, maybe we’ll just have to stop at Uncle Richie’s and knock back a couple cold ones.” He still makes that joke only, usually we’ll enjoy our cold ones at home.  

Before Wal-Mart, Aldi, Culvers and  even before Jewel-Osco, we had one constant. The Regency Point Shopping Center. Much of my early life centered around this plaza. On one end, a Walgreens which later turned into a fitness center served up snacks to my friends and myself. The same Walgreens where my friends and I would later get kicked out of and accused of stealing batteries all the while my brand new Chad Muska Kamikaze skateboard was stolen from behind the cash register where we were told to place them. We didn’t steal and we surely did not steal batteries. 

The same plaza housed the same old McDonalds, Subway and Dunkin Donuts. Along with a couple of local food joints: Brown’s Chicken and Mikeez Pizza. A glutton’s dream. Stuffed in between these establishments were a Dollar Store where I pissed away many allowances on cheap Chinese junk, a post office, and Ace Hardware which my father despised because of their high prices but sometimes had to oblige in a jam.  

Regency Point Shopping Center also housed the eye doctor where I received many eye exams and ugly pair of glasses. The veterinary clinic that we took all of our pets to was there as well. The same clinic that had to put our family favorite dog Astro down after piercing a vet tech’s nose. Astro had a bout with hip dysplasia which unfortunately he lost. My heart still skips a beat when I see Shetland sheepdog. 

In between all of these stores and eateries was the most exciting of places: JC Flicks. I felt about this place probably the same way my father felt about going to Home Depot. 

With the mesmerizing neon, outside of playing basketball or (later) skateboarding, going to the video store was one of my favorite things to do. My simple minded self wondered how exactly it was possible to have a wall of televisions playing a feature film. Though confused by their presence as I awkwardly walked around them, I always admired the older kids (usually a couple) who loitered in front of them. I spent a lot of time looking around by myself. I felt free. Even though nine out of ten times I was going to rent the same film. Eddie starring Whoopi Goldberg was a big favorite of mine. Or maybe City Slickers, Something with Pauly Shore or Jim Varney. It didn’t matter, the choice was mine. JC Flicks, the mecca, the source of many hours of entertainment. I’d heard about Pick-A-Flick next to Sage’s Meat Market but I’d also heard it wasn’t nearly as good as JC Flicks and if that was the case, who needed them? Though I wasn’t at all sure what was behind the plastic beads in the adult section, I couldn’t wait to one day be old enough to finally go behind them. Once, when Brett and his friends were hanging out as hoodlums do, they actually broke one of the windows at the store. I’m not sure who ended up paying for the window but I was scared that we would not be able to return to the store. Fortunately this was not the case and before eBay became such a big entity, we struck gold when the Nintendo 64 came out. JC Flicks decided to stop renting Super Nintendo Games and sell them for five dollars a piece, many of which are still stashed in my parents basement.

As I got older, and earned a drivers license, things were starting to change. I was getting more into music, Amazon was coming into its own and a little store in Crest Hill called Disc Replay sold movies, games and music for cheaper than the price of a couple of rentals. It became the new adventure to go across the bridge and see what they had. 

The years have gone by since I last lived in Illinois. Seven, eight years or so. Regency Point Shopping Center is still buzzing. The line still curls around for the Dunkin Donuts drive thru in the morning. The McDonalds apparently did so much business they installed an extra lane for THEIR drive thru traffic, and built another about a half mile up the road. The Dollar Store is long gone and I sometimes wonder what happened to the man that owned and ran it. He wasn’t terribly warm but he was somewhat of a pillar at that time in my life. I heard he lived off of Ninth Street. I’m not entirely sure but I wish him well. The small music store didn’t last terribly long but I did buy the Marshall Mathers LP on CD without a parent which was about the biggest thrill one could have at a young age without breaking any real laws. That former Walgreens turned fitness center actually turned into a new fitness center: Planet fitness which conveniently is the gym that I go to and am able to visit when I visit my family. I still don’t know who stole my skateboard.

The other day while watching The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a DVD rental shipped from Netflix,  I asked Heather if she missed going to Blockbuster. I’d never been to one until much later in life. Even then I never had a membership and it was on the way out. The constant marketing seemed really confusing. No late fees ever, except sometimes? The stores I’d been to were pretty bland and didn’t excite me the way my humble video store did. Without batting an eyelash, Heather said no to which I was a bit surprised by until her reasoning was related closely to her lack of interest in leaving the apartment. A part of me agreed but a part of me went back to JC Flicks and remembered that child who took great pleasure in a simple VHS tape and felt comfort.