A Drive by Home

Yesterday I drove past my childhood home.

The wood frame two story built in 1949

Still stood sturdy as I remembered.

The shutters were painted a different color

My mother would approve, I know of the

Deep forest green door and window trim.

I wonder what the family that lives there now is like.

Kids?  I’m sure. A house this large was built for a family

Does Mrs. Wilks still live next door? 

Probably not.  She was old when I was a kid,

A long time ago.

Too bad, they would love her peach cobbler in the summer.

She always made two, I guess she knew it was our favorite.

My room was upstairs on the right.

Is it still there?  My hidden cubby-hole and all the treasures I hid.

I bet it is.  My secrets are still safe. 

My first love notes from middle school,

My baseball autographed by the ’84 Cubs, nothing special

And my Little League trophy, my Dad coached that team.

What I would give to go inside and see

That old fireplace mantle where we hung our stockings,

We would sit in front of it and listen to my mother read

And the big clawfoot tub, deep, over my head if it’s full.

In the back yard, there is a big magnolia tree

I carved my name in it, all the way in the top.

No one will ever find that.  Branded forever.

This place will always be mine.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

very much like Ryegate, Vermont and the old farmhouse will always be mine...it is my childhood dream which was very real and is still as real today...

your old house was built the year before i was born...the year before we went to Vermont the first time..

and that old milking barn down the road, still stands as strong as it did then, and yet even then it looked like it was going to fall apart.

j.

[James]

It is amazing how some things never change when everything around them does. I've always been fascinated with those old barns.

We only lived in this house for about a year, in Corbin Kentucky, but it will always stick in my mind. Incidentally, it was the only time in my life that I didn't have to share a room.

[Kathy Van Kurin]

'A Drive by Home'
James,
The title caught my eye right away. Who doesn't hope the inclusion we would wish 'home' to be? Also the question and answer format really works in this piece. I found the information and memories you shared to be so warm and inspiring. To read someone's experience within what went before bring me into my own memories of my own childhood home. This was great in it's flowing form as well. loved it.
Bless you this Spring,
Kathy

[Woody]

beautifully whimsical. I would've written something similar about our old home with differences, of course. no fireplace or stockings for us. I'm very much like you, James. I reminisce and pine for the old days and memorabilia. is it because we're getting old?
lovely write.

[James]

I think you are right my friend, getting old. I'm hearing that a lot here lately.