Today is cool, cloudy and breezy. I’m wearing my sweatshirt because I left the windows open last night, and the house is cold. I’m actually going out later. It feels somehow like a solemn occasion. Perhaps I should dress up and wear one of my fascinators, the one with feathers. I’m going to Agway. It is the perfect day for wandering the flower aisles.

My hometown had shoe factories, a box factory and chemical companies along side the tracks. The train ran when I was a kid. I used to keep pennies in my pocket just in case the train came. When it did, I’d put a couple of pennies on the track so they’d be flattened by the train. I used to walk the tracks as they were a bit of a shortcut home. I remember jumping over railroad ties with double O’s. If I stepped on one, it was like step on a crack and break your mother’s back. I did not want to be responsible for breaking my mother’s back.

The square back then had two or three pharmacies, a men’s clothing store owned by the brother of the Catholic undertaker, a children’s clothing store, the movie theater, a luncheonette, Stoneham Spa, Hank’s Bakery and best of all, a Woolworth’s. There was police box in the middle of Main Street. Down from the square was the diner. I loved that diner. My dad would sometimes take me there for breakfast. After drill practice, some of would go there for a brownie covered in chocolate sauce with a bit of whipped cream on the top.

It has been a long time since I last lived in my hometown. It is quite different now. One shoe factory was turned into luxury condos. It is down from the town square. The railroad tracks are gone as is the box factory. I remember seeing workers on cigarette breaks sitting outside the factory. All the local pharmacies are gone. Where O’Grady’s diner was is a hardware store. The armory where we had winter drill practice is also a hardware store. But some of the changes are welcome. Instead of one Chinese restaurant, there is an Italian restaurant where one of the pharmacies used to be, an Indian restaurant, two Thai restaurants and an Asian fusion restaurant. The movie theater has been transformed. It looks the same from the street, but it’s now a live theater. My sister and I go every year for the Christmas play. I get a chuckle seeing people in the balcony. It was off limits during Saturday matinees because of all the candy thrown from there.

When I visit my sister, I always do a memory ride. I start in the square, go pass my elementary school and then follow what was my walk home. Where we lived hasn’t changed much except for the tall trees.

I had the best childhood in that town. My sister still lives there as do some of my friends. I don’t visit often enough.

This entry was posted on June 15, 2020 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.