Nostalgia.....Speaking of going back home, last week end I went to my small hometown of Monroe, Michigan to watch the annual Monroe County Fair parade. Mind you, I have never seen this parade in all my years living in Monroe, or after marrying, moving to Toledo, Ohio which is only a twenty minute drive. All my memories just floated back to me, the shop where I purchased my wedding dress is now something else, the Jack In The Box where I worked my first job, is now another business, and as I sat by the side of the main street, watching the Monroe High School marching band, all the familiar sounds and feelings returned. I even sang along to our school fight song, as they passed by.
My younger sister now lives on the land our home sat on. Since she's owned it, there was a fire and our family home was burned to the ground. She and her hubby built a beautiful farm style home, and left it in the exact same spot where our family home was, so when I visit her, it is like going back home to "our" house. The backyard has the same feel, the front yard still has my Mom's climbing roses, and everything feels familiar. Just standing in our yard, looking up, taking in the sunshine, the warm gentle breeze, the smell of roses, picking tomatoes from her garden for her, all familiar, from days gone by. I had my two youngest grandchildren with me, and Zak kept asking me, "Nonnie this is where you lived when you were a child?" Oh the joy and love I felt sharing this with them. So, while some find their hometowns changed and unfamiliar, I felt as if nothing had changed at all. I did go to place flowers on my mother and father's grave site, and yes, even the cemetery, was the same.... all the names of the families, friends and relatives brought back smiles and tears, memories flooded my mind, filling my heart to the brim. And while businesses have gone, and new ones have come, new neighborhoods now fill the vacant fields, and even the park where my hubby and I spent time while dating is no longer there..... the memories are fresh in my mind.
For me.... Monroe is my hometown, my family still lives there, my aunt still sits on her front porch watching traffic pass by on the rural road we all grew up on, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma and grandpa, four generations on one road, still carrying on the tradition of families living close by.
I know I not only exist, I know I am more than just a computer simulation or myth. I am God's great creation, child, I am a wife, a sister, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, and I am ME! Aged, tired, but still looking forward to the best years to come. I am working on my own memoir, and yes, talking with other siblings and relatives, I realize, we all have our own personal memories, some I was too young to be a part of, but mostly, we all agree, our family with all it's dysfunctions was something we cherished. Oh dear.... listen to me going on and on.
Well, I am off to a small town festival today, where passing through last night at dusk, all the people young and old were sitting out having ice cream cones, riding bicycles, strolling down the lighted sidewalks, and enjoying the summer night's cool breeze. We're going to stop in to say good-bye to our friends, shop owners of a small resale shop called Encore, who are having a retirement/going out of business bash today. One more memory I'll store in my mind, for when we pass through this quaint little town in the future, and say to my hubby..."Do you remember when we stopped in there and Chuck was dressed like Santa Claus."