Have You Ever Gone Back to a House Where You Used to Live and Not Recognize It?

I did, actually. When I lived in vermont, I had a Siamese cat who was being treated at Tufts Vererinary School and I had to leave him there for the day. I had researche dsomething that I wanted to buy online and the shop, in Connecticut,  was close enough that I could drive to it, make my purchse and kill the time I needed to kill before returning to Tufts to pick up the cat. While I was in Connecticut, I decided to swing by thehouse I grew up in, just to see it.

I hardly recognized it. It was tan with blue trim where it had once been barn red with white trim. The street that seemsed so long and had seemed so open looked so short and closed in; all of the trees and shrubs planted by those first-time homeowners in the early '50s had matured and filled in the spaces. The hill that we used to sled down, that seemed so terrifying at the time...a mere pimple!

While I was parked in front of the house, mentally doing my homework in 1957, my cell phone rang, jolting me back to the present. I felt SO disoriented for the rest of the day.

I haven't gone back and don't know if I would want to take a look. Talk about food for thought...

Snowing, eh? (LOL).

Elizabeth,

What a terrific post. Yo can;t get into water of the Ghanga River twice, or something similar to that (I am translating, so it may be a differently sounding quote in English).

Visiting places where I once lived is similar to your experience. They stay in my memory in a different way, that they are now.

We called it "when the trees were tall".

Elizabeth - that is unless you go back to Buffalo, NY. The first house I remember living in was still there last time I looked, about 4 years ago. Still the same color scheme. Only one of the places that I lived was gone when I checked. We moved from Beaverton, Oregon almost 6 years ago. We were back in June for my daughters wedding and went to check things out. Our house was still there but the street was very different. Our old watering hole was still there but different management, different people. And, our favorite Thai place had changed hands and been renamed. You can go back, but not to the same place, except for maybe parts of Buffalo, NY.

Elizabeth:  I did something similar to roommates I had that aggravated the hell out of me.  I like your style.  As for going home again, the only place I ever saw this not apply was to my Dad's home in Pottsville, PA.  It was depressing that nothing ever changed and that it seemed time stood still there.  While change may be disconcerting, the lack of change can be even more disconcerting.

How Ironic just yesterday I drove through a neighborhood where my mom had lived - I was already grown and married - but I could not find the house - don't remember the street name but figured after going there time and time again I could drive right to it... WRONG - it may have been torn down... but I doubt it the neighborhood has not changed much.... I love your idea of opening the windows on a cold winter morning for payback - you rock... I am sure Sacramento loves having you there too.

I re-visited my childhood neighborhood and it was nothing like what I remembered (or thought I remember!)! I remember it being a pretty big house on a hill in a great big neighborhood with a little corner store around the corner.... Well the house is TINY and the neighborhood nothing like what I remember and the corner store - history - new roads all around - new neighborhoods - freaked me out. Don't think I'll go back again.... There's no place like home and that's right here ! Fun though thinking about it and going back once and seeing what's what.

Elizabeth - About 15 yrs ago, I drove by the house in Santa Monica where I grew up and the entire block had been leveled and turned into a strip mall.  It was actually kind of cathartic.

For me, after leaving home at 17, I never looked back and left that part of my life where it belongs - in the past.  Since my childhood, I have changed soooo much and have moved on and grown into someone 180 degrees from that child back then.

We have gone back to our home town over the years and it is sad to see the demise of the small town I grew up in. From a functioning community to a struggling suburb.

Elizabeth, I once went back to a house we lived in on Cooper Creek Road in Columbus, Georgia. It had burned down for the most part and did not evoke any happy memories like I thought it would. I am happy to continue going forward! Some of the past stays in the past for a reason.

Elizabeth - I have gone back to several homes I have owned in the past, as well as the home I basically grew up in.  Most of them still look the same as they did when I lived in them, believe it or not.  Even the one I grew up in over 30 years ago.  The only thing I thought was a little different was that everything in the neighborhood seemed closer that it did when I was a kid.

Hi Elizabeth... When I go back to see places I used to live I am always struck by how much smaller they always seem compared with the size they are in my memory.  Funny how that happens!

Hi Elizabeth, too funny about the way you left in the morning!  Good grief, I don't think I would like to go back to that home again! LOL!  It's a restaurant now?  Cooking for 17 guys sounds like a restaurant then, too! :-)

I have the knowledge safe in my soul that I can go home anytime I want or need to do so.  And while things have changed (my room is now an office), much has remained the same.  And Christmas morning will be spend in my parents home for many years to come.  My brother will inherit that house when the time comes, but I think we'll still go home for Christmas. 

Since I moved back to San Antonio in 2003, I have driven by the house I grew up in a few times. It is surrounded by newer neighborhoods and retail development. When I lived there from third grade through high school, it was out in the country. I used to ride my bike everywhere for miles around.

It is also much smaller now than it was then. How did that happen?!

Cheers,

Robin