A childhood memory...confirmed.

As we get older, some memories fade and we wonder if what we remember really happened, or if it was just a fantasy. I have a childhood memory of a place in the woods, with a creek running through misty fields, under old, gothic bridges that surely were home to trolls and other forest creatures. I remember catching crawfish in the creek, and plucking leeches of my legs after spending hours ankle-deep in the crystal-clear water. I remember an old convent in a clearing, with a tower on one end of the building, and nuns who gave thirsty children water when they asked for it. I remember the place as Elfindale. The name was a fitting homage to the mystery of the place.

As the years passed, and I moved away, I often wondered what it turned into, and if it was really as magical as I remembered. As I was surfing the internet, and looking at my old town of Springfield, Missouri, I noticed a street name on the map, not far from my home there. Elfindale. Then I noticed a link to The Mansion at Elfindale. When I clicked the link, I was amazed to see a picture of the tower I remember from the convent. A memory from my childhood, forever frozen in a photograph, just as it is frozen in my memory.

The convent from my childhood memories is now a bed and breakfast in Springfield. The history link on the website confirms that it was, indeed, a convent, just as I remembered. I cannot wait to plan a trip to Springfield, and to Elfindale, to see if it is still as magical as I remember.