This morning my friend, Christie, and I had breakfast at our new First Watch restaurant in Winter Park. Afterwards we toured the fabulous new Winter Park Library and Civic Center. It has been a long time coming, with much hand wringing, from all parties involved. Just like most projects in Winter Park.
Besides the convention center, the library has many features that were not in the original plans. Whether it is your cup of tea or not, it is stunning, and massive.
The structure is at the edge of Martin Luther King, Jr. park. In the early 90s my husband, Ken, and I were part of a group formed to build a park that would serve both the black and white communities which, at that time, were still sharply divided. It was to be a bridge, so to speak. It took a few years but finally the park came together and was dedicated in 1996.
In the park was a small bridge called "Unity Bridge" to signify what this project was all about. During this time Ken and I received news that he had a terminal illness. It was devastating. After both of us shed tears and voiced our fears we looked toward the future.
What would be our next step? We decided it would cheer us up to buy "unity bricks" for the bridge, dedicated to our large and growing family. In the photo you can see a couple of the Crossman bricks. They're all still there. Over the years I have shared about the joy of placing these bricks in other blog postings but, to me, the significance of what we did all those years ago still holds.
Much has change between 1996 and today. To me, to the park, to the community, to my family and friends; but the bricks are still there.
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