"If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ~Toni Morrison

Monday, April 8, 2013

G is for Gables


I spent my childhood in a housing estate called The Gables.  My side of the street was lined with two-story houses.  Each house had the exact same layout, same postage stamp yard, same white fence and short stone pillars.  Between the houses and the street, large trees tore up the sidewalks.  The street was lined with tar which bubbled in the summer sun, creating a new plaything.  The tar lines also served as a tennis court on those summer days.  The opposite side of the street was lined with one story houses.

Recently I looked at a picture of that street on Google Street View.  The houses no longer have garages.  They have all been replaced by sun rooms.  The large, destructive trees have all been replaced by thin saplings.  Some of the old gang still live there; many have moved away.  Those streets are filled with memories of long days spent playing Kick the Can and Hide and Seek.  

Maybe today, a new group of kids is forming new memories on that same street.

6 comments:

  1. I like to make things, too. Creativity is like air!

    i enjoyed hearing about your childhood memories. my mother still lives in my childhood home and many of the neighbors are the same people who lived there 40-50 years ago.

    SiouxsiesMusings

    #AtoZChallenge

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    1. Wow. My parents and I have all moved a few times since this neighborhood.

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  2. Lovely childhood memory. Reminds me of a Chicken Soup for the Soul book or Reminisce magazine.

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  3. I remember how sad my husband was when he visited his childhood neighborhood and everything had changed. So far, my neighborhood is pretty much the same, but if I ever move away I probably wouldn't go back and visit. I prefer memories :-) Happy A to Z!

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    1. Memories are better. I feel like a stranger in my hometown nowadays.

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