I haven't been back to my home town in a couple of years. I'll go by the family plot and visit the graves of my parents and grandparents and other ancestors. It's a quiet spot. I'm not sure why I go back to the grave site really. I guess there is some feeling of obligation, but I know that all these who are dead and gone are part of the greater energy now. They don't dwell in these graves.
I was glad to get away from where I grew up. Now I'm looking forward to visiting. Someone asked if I would want to live there again. Not a chance. Life is good right here. I am happy that somehow I was transplanted to this place. Besides, the town where I lived is not the same. My mind still tells me that it's the same. It's a lot like waking up after many long years of sleep and seeing how everything has changed. It's a bit of a shock really.
I read Thomas Wolfe so many years ago. His words "You Can't Go Home Again" meant to me that attempts to reconnect with childhood memories will fail. But I know how things have changed. I'm not attempting to relive my youth there. I'm going back to see people who I may not see again. A connection and a chance to make a living amends. I'll be up there for two days. That's enough time.
“I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one's skin, at the extreme corners of one's eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe.” ― Maya Angelou
Have a good time, Syd. I remember, before I went to my 30 year HS reunion (the first reunion I attended since I graduated) my husband told me this sentence would be the most telling sentence I would hear come out of a classmate's mouth. The sentence is this, "I bought my parent's house." There you go. Now you know they are in exactly the same place you left them, from HS. FYI, at my 30th reunion I hear that sentence 3 times. Have fun.
ReplyDeleteSome have stayed here all their lives. Others have moved on. I was dismayed to see that some of the houses that I knew were torn down and the farms were sold off to become gas stations, etc. I'm glad that I live where I do but visiting here is okay.
DeleteI wonder what sort of hometown you came from. I gather it is somewhere north but I am curious. I will be interested to follow along on your travels. Have fun.
ReplyDeleteGinnie, I am from the Tidewater area of Virginia-- a beautifully historic area. My family is from the North River. I know that you can figure it out. The town has remained the same pretty much but the outlying areas of the county have changed enormously. Too much development and so many open areas now are gone for strip malls, gas stations, and Big Box stores. Sad.
DeleteI agree with the Maya Angelou quote,It is how we deal with the experiences.
ReplyDeletesmiles....it is cool to visit, esp if you get a chance to see old friends...i def would not want to live there again...i understand that....have fun...
ReplyDeleteIt is cool to visit and then go back to my home on the island. Not the same as it was but I knew that.
DeleteI think my memories may be nestling in the gristle of my earlobe.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely time.
Nice to have you comment here, PG. I've missed you. Hope that all is well.
DeleteI find "going home" is always nice, but I think because I enjoy seeing my family, not necesarily to relive memories. My parents still live where I grew up and the neighborhood has changed, a lot, and not necessarily for the better.
ReplyDeleteI miss the idea of a HS reunion. I graduated in a class of 12 Army Brats in Berlin, Germany. There will never be a get together. So enjoy, Syd, this is something special not everyone can experience.
ReplyDeleteThis gave me so much to reflect on, Syd -- and the country is which I grew up, no longer exists, nobody visits those graveyards any longer. But memories survive on --
ReplyDeleteThat was a fantastic post. I have never attended a HS reunion. I am too afraid that people will ask what became of me and I will have to tell the truth. Frankly, I am hiding from my past.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post I may have to reevaluate my opinion of running into old friends.