Thursday, August 21, 2014

Things that aren't here anymore

PBS is a wonderful thing. Recently, they have been showing a two show series called, "Things that aren't here anymore" as well as "More things that aren't here anymore" chronicling businesses and landmarks that are long gone in around the general Los Angeles area.

Sometimes, when I find an address on a U.S. Census or other genealogy record, I'll look it up on Google Maps. Which got me to thinking, "What would people see if they look up the places where I lived?" in the future.

Well, when it comes to the addresses where I grew up, they're not going to see much. The first three houses I lived in for any significant amount of time were razed.

7410 Tokay was a 5 and a half acre rancho with a one bedroom house at the front of the property with no neighbors to the north, none across the street and one to the south - The Beers, who also had a farm when I lived there. After my dad sold to a contractor, the property was developed into a subdivision.

The years my mother decided to rent a room from other people, I really don't consider those places to have been my homes. The places we lived on Redwood and on Grammercy Place in Riverside were not ours and felt very temporary to me.

8412 Alder was, I believe, the original house to the double lot.  The garage was converted to the living room by the time I l lived there. A workshop and an additional home at the back of the lot were as old as the house I lived in. This house was razed (which I'm glad it was because it and the attached cellar were haunted.)

14966 1/2 Randall was a home behind another home accessible by a driveway to the left of the main house. After a fire years after I moved away, the house was razed.

The last house I lived in before moving to Orange County 22 years ago still exists, but instead of the backyard looking out onto a field, that field is now an elementary school.

The one thing I wanted so much for my son, that my mother could not seem to provide for me and my brother, was a stable home life as we moved every 3-4 years when growing up. If home is where the heart is, mine is where I bought my own and no one can take away the feelings homeownership has brought me.

Which is probably why I get a cold feeling when thinking about where I grew up and even going to my high school reunion. It's been 30 years since my high school graduation and I don't see the need to look back and reminisce.


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