Taking into account that I have been stuck at home for a solid month, you would think that the mere image of a house would make me sick. However, a walk around my mother’s childhood neighborhood was more refreshing than simply sitting outside.
My family and I spent the morning sipping coffee, and wondering how we could spend some time out of the house safely. The narrow streets surrounding our house are narrow, and make social distancing from others hard to do without walking in the middle of the street. After deliberation, my mother said her childhood neighborhood could be a nice and quiet walking destination.
My mother grew up in Brockton, MA in a cozy little neighborhood. Although I had been to Brockton numerous times to visit my aunt, my mother’s stories revived Brockton’s image with memories of the past.
First, my mother showed us her childhood home. It was a white house, with maroon shutters. According to my mother, she and her four sisters used to live in the bedroom marked by the top window. The house was mostly the same– only the shutters used to be green. As we walked around the neighborhood, each street became named by the stories existing underneath the layers of pavement. My mother showed us the neighbor’s lawn that her and her friend accidentally made their picnic spot, the houses where her friends used to live, and the park they used to play at. Walking the streets with my mother was a breath of fresh air, as life back in the day was completely different from the current challenges we face.
It is crazy to think about all that has changed since my mother was a child. Marriages, moves, deaths, and children have marked the evolution of my mother’s family. Yet, even with all of the changes that have happened, the neighborhood still stands. Minor changes (like the shutters) have modernized the exterior of the neighborhood, but the memories that made my mother who she is still live inside its walls. This reflection gave me hope about our current situation. Although things are weird right now, the people and the memories that made us who we are today will never fade. Not even the winds of change can blow down the structure of our values and our morals. And for that, I thank my family’s trip to the past for giving hope to the future.
Tune in next week for another social distancing adventure and stay safe!
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