I live in the town I grew up in. A small, N.J. town that has streets with old tree canopies and gas street

[3Hotdogs]

lights instead of harsher electric lights.

I was driving home through one of those streets and it brought me back to being in my car after movie dates and lingering in front of my girl's house, enjoying the evenings together. It brought to memory, Frank Sinatra's."It Was A Very Good Year."

"When I was seventeen,
It was a very good year,
It was a very good year for small town girls
And soft summer nights...."

I'm 82 now. I think back to those times that give memories that make my life, one of joy.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Have you gone back to your home?

It's been 25 years since we sold the family home (built by my dad). I'd like to go back one more time. Might be a great experience for the owners to know the back story to this place.

[3Hotdogs]

2. No. The house was a "tear down" and flip.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. That sucks a lot, I bet.

For us (the sibs) it's a physical space that served a different reality 65 years ago - that is what we want to see.

Not having that physical home has to give you a different perspective on life.

[3Hotdogs]

8. Not at all. The house was a horror. My childhood was good. My parents were the best. But the house...

It was built over a swamp and flooded every few years. It was a two family and that was ok when my parents were there to watch the tenant from day to day. After my father died, my mother went into assisted living for dementia. The elder law attorney advised that the best would be to manage the house until she passes and use the rent to pay for her care. He said that the average person with dementia lives for two years.

She lived for 10 years. Mixed feelings about that. My parents gave me good genes. I look, feel and act like 20 years younger. But it ended up being 10 years of tenants from hell and basement flooding more frequently.

So no, I don't miss the house.

[mnhtnbb]

7. The house in the small NJ town

where I grew up in the 50's and early '60's was a new ranch style when we moved there in 1954. It was mansionized --second story added-- and a pool put in sometime later. I saw it about 15 years ago when I went back to attend a reunion with some girl friends of that era. We moved to California when I was going into high school. I have really fond memories of growing up there. Climbing trees. Walking to school. Playing outside until dark on those soft summer nights.

[lucca18]

4. Your hometown sounds lovely and peaceful.

We need that now.
To just stop and reflect.
To rest our mind.
To remember the joy.

I
.

[JMCKUSICK]

5. How beautiful

[Buddyzbuddy]

6. I'm 20 years younger 3Hotdogs and that song makes me think of

the same things as those gas street lights did for you. Thanks for the memories.