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| I love the gorgeous old iron work! |
Thank you, Dear Bloggy Friends, for all your good wishes on our wedding anniversary this last week! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I read sweet words from people whom I've never even met! But we do feel like we know one another don't we? In some cases we are sharing more about our lives and inner thoughts than we have to very many others so maybe we do know each other in a real way!
Hubs and I celebrated our 33rd married year by spending the day in the city of our beginnings together. It's only an hour away but we no longer have any human connections there so we seldom return. It was a cold and rainy day so the car was our transport back into time rather than the motorcycle on this trip.
We left our hometown in 1992, so there have been many changes to the old neighborhoods and shopping centers. When returning after that many years, the truly FREAKY part is that even the houses and stores that came in AFTER we left are looking old and done with their prime time! There was an empty field that I used to ride my bike over to get to school, now it is an old and beat up looking neighborhood! What?! How can this be? The former FIELD is now old homes!! Crazy.
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| Antique architecture has been protected in our town. |
One sad stop was at our favorite house. The little 1940's home that we poured ourselves into restoring with lots of love and care. Rocker Son was born two months after we moved in and Writer Son learned to ride a bike in the long driveway. Back in 1992 I had a difficult time saying good-bye to this little place with the cozy bay window kitchen nook. This last Friday it actually made my tummy feel bad to slow down in front of our little love nest and see the cars in the yard and the paint we had brushed on it was now peeling off.
But our tour through town was still a sweet one, filled with stories we hadn't laughed about in ages. Names of favorite grade school teachers came flowing back as we passed my school. The high school where hubs and I met brought back all the angst and longing of those years. As we turned a corner and went by a knot of teen boys on a corner, the look in their eyes said that not much had changed in that area!
About a block from our high school is the small conservative church we had attended with our families. The sign in front made me gasp out loud. It is now an Islamic center! wow! Times change. Our next stop was the shoe store we had worked in together at the beginning of our relationship. Read that story here , at My Reflections, where I Guest Posted last week.
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| Used to be counter to ceiling shelves of shoes! |
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| The yellow mustard always remind us of our wedding! |
It is very strange to be the "old ones". The ones that remember the old days. How can it be? When did that happen? I have found my own Tupperware and dishes in ANTIQUE stores!! What? It seems like we spent so much time being the young ones, the couple that were too young in a land of older people. Now suddenly it is the other way around and I am not ready for it at all. I'm not ready to sit down and be quiet.
Okay, I am not going off on that tangent at this time. That's another post.
Our trip back in time was a good day that ended with the movie King's Speech, which we both loved. But I do not want to go back in time for real. I love my life and my age right now. Hubs and I are in a strange moment of unknowing. It's not real fun yet, but it is open to all possibilities! Our jobs are gone and we are working part time while figuring out what is next. Income is way down but we aren't fearful. We are just waiting.
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| Our city loves these "Ladies" as they call them! |
What is the next phase? I'll let you know when I know. Thanks for being here Friends!
PS. How do you like my new custom made header? I love it! If you read my tab about the blog title it all makes sense!! Thank you Jodi!!
PS. How do you like my new custom made header? I love it! If you read my tab about the blog title it all makes sense!! Thank you Jodi!!
Sounds like a great way to spend an anniversary. Very special. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI am crazy about your header!!! How long have you had it? I haven't read any blogs for ages!
ReplyDeleteI love how she dropped her church shoes and purse when she started to fly. :)
Shawna - I recently asked a good friend to do it for me and I just put it up less than an hour ago! Isn't it wonderful?
ReplyDeleteYep, I dropped those prim and proper church shoes and purse! freedom!
I like your site. Thanks! Here is a true story of mine in return.
ReplyDeleteI BROKE THE TABOO WITH A TATTOO
Lisa Nicole Lopes had premonitions about her own death, but she wasn't able to avoid it, despite the early warnings. I feel that I can relate to her, but I dealt with similar suspicions (of my own) differently than she did and I, unlike her, am here to tell you what I did to survive my first encounter with The Reaper.
Lisa Lopes was better known as Left Eye (a nickname that a boyfriend gave her because he said that her left eye was lazy). She was one of three singers in the 80's band TLC. Her premonitions about her own death and subsequent untimely demise are well documented, because Lisa and a crew were filming a documentary in Honduras during the time. Left Eye Lopes spoke on film about her omen, and again after a car that she was riding in had run over and killed a young boy. She lamented that the spirit that killed the boy was actually aiming for her but had missed.
Lopes paid for the little boy's funeral and did what she could to comfort the lost lad's family. Apparently Left Eye was right about the spirit that haunted her, because a month after the boy's death, Lopes died in a car crash (in Honduras). This time she was driving. Lisa was the only one in the vehicle that was wearing a seat-belt, but she died... and everyone else survived.
After hearing a story like this, some would say that it was Lisa's time, and that there wasn't anything that she could do to avoid it. Had I not gone through a similar situation, I might agree. But since I did, I don't.
There was a time when I felt like (my) death was close to me. I ignored the eery feelings for awhile, chocking them up to pessimism, but eventually I faced the strengthening force, first by admitting to my self that it existed. Left Eye got this far, but recognizing spirits isn't rocket science for god's sake. You have to fight stuff like this, not freeze like a deer caught in the headlights!
I FOUGHT MY TABOO WITH A TATTOO.
It was 1986 and I was in Davenport, Iowa, when I finally decided to face the Reaper before he faced me. Since the Reaper has no face, I'm speaking figuratively.
I was sitting on a bar stool when a fellow came in asking if anyone wanted to get a tattoo. We chatted, and before too long I was the customer that he was looking for. We left the bar and went to a little garage space that he tattooed out of. The scene was totally unprofessional, as far as tattoo shops go, but since I was a carny (carnival guy) it wasn't anything new to me. I stopped the artist from apologizing for the place and we got down to the business of picking something out to tattoo on me.
There wasn't a lot to choose from, no walls of colorful flash or volumes of designs just a single, thinly filled, loose leaf binder. Having never wanted a skull tattoo, I surprised myself by selecting one with a black rose between it's teeth. "That's the Black Rose Of Death tattoo," the needler told me. "Perfect," I proclaimed! "It's just what I need to fight the reaper. Put it on my left arm where I can keep my eye on him.¨
I believe that the left represents the spiritual side and the right represents the physical side, so my tattoos are placed accordingly. One month later, in Chicago, I was stabbed (in the heart and stomach) to death. The doctor that saved me, said that I have a new birthday and... I still have that tattoo, too.
I love the header. So colorful and original!
ReplyDeleteYour old town is so amazing looking. I love the architecture. so much history. It is bitter sweet to walk down memory lane, isn't it?
A few years ago, I went back to the neighbourhood where I grew up (about thousand miles from where in live now). Almost all the little (and not so little) houses were gone, replaced by mini-mansions. I had trouble figuring out where old neighbours homes would have been. So much change.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: Glad the butterfly is taking wing!
I can't believe I've found another 'Thanx' with an 'x' speller!! I thought I was the only one ...
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
What a great walk down memory lane. I know what you mean about being the 'old ones' now...and I'm not liking it that much. LOL Those ladders look like fun...and they're RED- my favorite color.
ReplyDeleteLove the new header!
LOVE the new look! It is so you:)
ReplyDeleteAnd enjoyed the lovely post as well.