Did you ever spend a vacation week going back to places where you used to live and seeing how much they have changed? When I was a child in the 60's, I lived in Alexandria, Virginia, Lawton, Oklahoma, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Madison, Wisconsin, Merion, Pennsylvania, and finally settling down in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I still have family. I took several vacations in the mid 90's and saw all of these places except the one in Merion, PA. Each time the homeowner would let me in, it was like going back in time. You should try it especially if you grew up as an army brat like me.
I went back to my old neighborhood for the first time after about 15 years. It didn't feel like I was going back in time. The place looked so different that I almost didn't recognize it. It was actually a depressing feeling for me. The place I grew up and called home; the place I felt so attached to and such an integral part of - that place moved on without me. It was a stiff reminder that life goes on whether you are in the picture or not.
I have also done that, it's wonderful. I took it a step forward though. I love genealogy and recently completed my family paternal family tree. Never knowing my paternal great grandparents, I located where they lived and called home. My sister and I visited and the home owners allowed us to tour their home. My great grandfather originally did all the woodwork on the inside of the home. The home owners now are a elderly couple who bought the home from my great grandparents. They had remodeled several times. They had some of the old trim work my great grandfather had done and gave me and my sister a piece. It is one of my treasured possessions. I feel like I'm connected with them.
I don't like going back in time because it usually depresses me. The place is never the same and a flood of happy memories don't come rushing back to me. I still live on the street that I grew up on and I don't really enjoy catching up with old friends who lived here before. They're all so different and their lives have reached some serious low points. I'd prefer to have these good times in my memories instead of facing the reality that things are crumbling.
I grew up in Southern California and the last time I went back there it had changed way too much. Our small home out in the country was long gone...so was the country setting. It was more of a big city setting now. I haven't been back since because I live too far away now but I really have no desire to see it again. What I remembered of it it is gone.
