Continuing on our tour down memory lane ….
We took a quick turn off Interstate 80-94 to drive the kiddos past the places we called home as kids. They’ve heard many stories about these places, now they see them and try to imagine their parents as kids, living in these neighborhoods, going to these schools, and playing in these yards.
First we drive by Mr. D’s high school. Then his middle school (down the street) … and drive the walk Mr. D walked to school every day. Kids were impressed by the long walk!
Approaching the street Mr. D grew up on … we tell the kids …. “its the street with the mailbox” — the identifier. I think it’s interesting that after years of living on “Missouri Avenue”, Mr. D’s parents eventually moved to the state of Missouri!
The house. Same color. Same eagle by the front door. New bay window. Sad empty planter in front of house. This is the house Mr. D lived in when we started dating. It used to show pride of ownership in a big way back in the day that Mr. D and his family lived there. With full planters, flowers and a beautifully manicured lawn.
A short distance from Mr. D’s house — is the house I lived in until the middle of 8th grade.
Now, I’m all for home improvements — but I think the house looked better in the sixties than it does now. I barely recognized the house! Homes built in 1957. Not fancy homes. Simple. Modest. One bathroom. Three bedrooms. Finished basements with linoleum tiled floors. A step up from the homes our parents, parents owned.
Yes. That’s me being all cool standing on my tricycle!
Interesting bit of trivia: Mr. D, and his sister, Mrs. Z, were both students in my grandmother’s first grade classroom in our hometown.
