“Nostalgia is the only friend that stays with you forever.”
Outside my window every day looks the same. Every day feels the same. Today is cloudy and cold, in the low 30’s . A wind blows the upper branches of the pine trees. Last night we had touch of snow, too little to be even a dusting.
When I go back to my hometown, I ride through the square. I take a trip through my memories. The old buildings are still there, but the shops and stores from my childhood are gone. Stoneham is old. It was settled in 1634 and became Stoneham in 1725.
When the original stores in the square disappeared, they were missed, but after a while, they were forgotten. I have singular memories of each store. The fish market had a peculiar smell even outside on the sidewalk. The cobbler wore a striped apron. He was always bent over a shoe. Poulo’s drug store was small. Mr. Poulo always wore a white coat with buttons, the old Dr. Casey look. I remember he had a mustache. The movie theater is still there but has been reincarnated as a live theater. I have seen plays there. Nobody throws candy anymore. Hank’s Bakery had the smell of fresh bread. I don’t know if the downstairs bowling alley is still there. I always heard the noise of the pins. MiddIesex Drugs was on the corner. It had everything. Kennedy’s beside it had barrels with rounds of cheddar cheese outside by the front windows. The store where you paid electric bills had stoves in the window. The men’s clothing store window had mannequins wearing suits. I could see the salesmen through that window. They too wore suits. My square was the neatest place.
As I get older, I get more nostalgic. My memory drawers open and all those wonderful memories jump into my head. I am ten again.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
February 3, 2024 at 4:44 pm
Hi Kat,
After the rain last night, the sun appeared around one this afternoon and the temperature hit a comfortable 66°.
The last time I went back to my old neighborhood in Queens New York, everything seemed much smaller. My aunt’s house seemed smaller, and even my old high school seemed smaller. The high school closed a couple of years ago due to falling enrollments. However, they can’t tear it down because it’s been designed an historical landmark. Today it’s been reopened. Many of the apartment buildings in the area were built and owned by Trump’s father. Had he attended public school he would have been a graduate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_High_School
Additionally, all the stores on Union Turnpike where we shopped are gone but the buildings were still there. I haven’t returned in about ten years.
As I say about working at the training center, everything has changed, but over the preceding 34 years really nothing has changed. 🙂
February 3, 2024 at 11:13 pm
HI Bob,
It is in the low 30’s now and will get colder. The clouds stayed around all day. Supposedly the sun will be here tomorrow. I am a bit skeptical.
Your school building looks majestic. It is impressive, huge.
You were probably shorter when you moved so everything looked bigger. My high school is in another town so I haven’t been back to it. Both grammar schools, the old and the new, are still in use, and I would feel at home in either of them, but so much else has changed. I think it is a far better school than when I went there. They have clubs and sports, even a gym, practical sciences and great uniforms. Lunch is now delivered by a catering service.
My old town still has that small town feel about it