Reunion

I grew up in a small town. And I live in a small town.

Just kidding. Kind of. Thanks John Mellencamp :)

I grew up in the same city where I currently live. But it was a lot different 'back then'.

Way back when...I lived in a big 'ol farmhouse in a neighborhood on the north side. My parents bought the house for a song (because it lacked some basics -- electricity, plumbing, kitchen) and we grew up in the fixer upper.

Random memories...

• leaning against the screens to watch the rain puddle under the downspouts
  
• swinging on the front porch swing during thunderstorms - and when the wind blew really hard we'd cuddle under a blanket while we felt safe swinging next to Dad
  
• 'helping' Mom paint the fence in the backyard (by dropping our paintbrushes into the dirt)
  
• Dad climbing up to the attic via a very tall step ladder and then his head, shoulders, waist, legs...disappearing into the nothingness of my bedroom ceiling
  
• having to wear slippers in the summertime because the wooden floors gave us splinters if we didn't
  
• Dad cutting off the legs of a table to make us one we could play at in the playroom
  
• dinner on the blue willow plates
  
• how patient Mom was when we begged for a sheet/rag so we could make a 'tent' in the corner of the fenced-in-yard
  
• Dad building us a sandbox that was half the length of our barn

But a lot has changed since then. I got married and moved south. I had kids. My siblings moved out. My parents sold the house and moved further north. And the neighborhood where my house was has become renter's central. It's still a hubbub of activity, but it's for a younger generation. Gone are the people I knew and loved: the older neighbors who watched out for the little ones riding bikes down the sidewalks; the helpful ones who corrected you for a transgression; the young families; the babysitters; the parents and children; all have made way for the hip, the young, the transient.

It's sad that my neighborhood has changed in such a major way. I look back at that house, that neighborhood, those families, with such fondness. It's going to be an interesting reunion. I'm sure there's a funny factor to be found.

Somewhere.