My mom, Esther McConnaughay Flodstrom, was part of that big McConnaughay clan that inhabits Batavia , Geneva and St. Charles .

When she was in third grade, two blue stars were on display on the front beveled window of her house in Batavia. It was 1945: She had two big brothers fighting in World War II.

Every day after school Mom raced home to see if the blue stars had changed to gold. She saw it happen on other houses, and she knew what it meant.

Mom passed away last December. I retraced her steps from Louise White School to her former house on Prairie Street. The six blocks she endured felt interminable.

I stood outside her old house, now beautifully gardened in coneflowers, zinnias and coreopsis. Men were on ladders brushing fresh white paint onto the two-story stucco house.

A

See Full Page