Down Memory Lane

This is the house I grew up in. We moved here just after Christmas in 1987.

For the first six years after my parents' divorce we lived with my grandparents first in a grand old house in St. Croix for one year, then for another five years in Florida, most of them in yet another grand (but new) house. But at the end of '86 we struck out on our own--just mom, my brother, my sister and me. And this is where we set up our homestead. Sometime, in the late 90's (I'm not sure when, I had long moved out by then), Mom sold the house and moved into an apartment.

Well, this 4th of July, I was on my way to visit an old friend that I hadn't seen in seven years, my dear friend Chandra. Her childhood home was maybe a half mile down the road from mine and before I headed over there, I swung by our old house and snapped the picture you see above. The old place hasn't changed too much, it appears--the car port still is still there (I used to envy people who had actual garages), the lawn is still patchy, looks like even the mailbox is the same. I wonder if there's still purple shag carpet in what used to be mine and Vince's room?


Chandra & Me.

Then it was on to Chandra's house. It was really nice to see her again after so many years, and it was cool to see her in the house we hung out in when we were in high school. She and her husband,Darren, live nearby but she was at her parents home on the lake for the holiday. It was great to see her parents who made me feel welcome as always, as well her younger brothers (all grown up now) and their wives. It was funny, when I walked into that familiar living room the first person I saw was one of Chandra's nephews and he reminded me so much of her youngest brother when he was a kid--the way I remember last seeing him--that I felt for a moment as if I'd walked back into the past.

We spent a couple of pleasant hours catching up and reminiscing. Chandra's one of those friends that I lost touch with over the years--but thanks to the modern miracle of Myspace we were able to find each other and reestablish contact. I'm really glad for that and I hope we'll get to see more of each other now that she and her husband are back in Orlando.

When I left, in one of those cool Ipod shuffle moments, the song that queued up was "Dreams" by Van Halen, a song that always reminded me of Chandra.



Jim and Dawn watch fireworks from the balcony of Dawn's condo on the night of July 4, 2007.