A Trip Down Memory Lane

Middle child is taking his GRE's this afternoon.  The testing center he chose is located in Columbia, Maryland.  We used to live in Columbia when the kids were little.  So, I dropped him off at the testing center, and I've been taking a trip down memory lane.

I drove by the old house.  I was VERY disappointed to see that the new owners of the house cut down the "Climbing Tree" - a gorgeous flowering crab apple tree that was perfect for little kids to climb up into.  Our very own jungle gym, supplied by nature.  Every spring, that tree provided us with the most gorgeous flowers, and I'd leave the windows upstairs open at night so that the scent could waft over us.  I have pictures of the youngest child laying on a blanket under that tree, surrounded by flower petals.  In the fall, that tree provided the most gorgeous color, and all summer long, it provided shade and privacy to a house that was located JUST TOO CLOSE to the parking pad for the neighborhood!

It was cold, but I still got a short walk in down by the lake.  I need to go back when it's warmer.  That lake is beautiful, even when it's cold outside!  Alas, my coat was not warm enough for me to brave being outside for more than a few minutes.  The memories I have of taking the kids for walks around that lake.  The picnics.  The races they'd run.  Sledding down the hill in the winter.  OH, and the time the boys were racing their bikes around the lake, lost control of their bikes and took a header into the water!

I visited the library.  (More on that tomorrow.)

I stopped by what used to be a gorgeous patch of woods, but is now an office development.  That makes me so very sad. 

It's funny.   I worked not too far from here up until July, but I never really spent time roaming around the old haunts until today.  I'm glad I did.  Places that seem larger than life in my mind are still warm, wonderful places that I would gladly go visit again. 

But the one thing that hasn't changed is the people.  I'm currently sitting in a coffee shop, enjoying people watching, attempting to edit something I recently wrote and need to publish, and working on my Blog.  (What can I say?  I have a short attention span.  I multi-task well.)   There's a group of young people, home from college at a large table not too far from me.  They're playing board games, and having a marvelous time.  People are walking by, stopping, and hugging them.  They're also seeing people and shouting out to them.   Old neighbors, teachers,  friends of their parents, and high school friends.  While this is no longer my home, I love knowing that even in the middle of a city as big as Columbia, there are things that make this place home for other people.

When you come down to it, that is what makes memories special, isn't it?  The people and the places that populate that memory.