A Flood of Memories

I recently noticed that Google Street View had covered the Virginia Beach area. I let my Father know which mostly involved showing him remotely how to navigate the map, how to type in addresses, and what it means to "drag and drop", but once we were up and running I got taken for quite the ride!

First up was my birthplace, I remember when I was little thinking that I lived in a nice big house, but when I revisit this house almost 35 years later, I realize that it either shrunk considerably or it just wasn't that big to begin with. In this picture there actually are two expansions, one on each side..so this place was a lot smaller. I now know why my parents moved so quickly after having my brother.

I used to play on the driveway for hours with my tricycle. I remember the hurricane that dropped the willow tree out back on the house. I remember so many things all the sudden just by looking around at the neighborhood. I remember the lady across the street's name was Jean and the next door neighbor was Kimberly. Amazing how I can remember so much from the first four years of my life!

Dad then showed me this little piece of history. The house in the middle was the first house that him and Mom lived in after they were married. Actually they rented the upstairs room because they didn't have the money to rent a whole apartment or buy a house yet. He said the place looks exactly the same!



Lastly was this house which I didn't recognize at first, but that's because the green siding has been replaced. This was my Grandparent's house. This is where I used to play badmitton with my Grandmother and where I used to listen and laugh as she fussed at my Granddad for being a "Lazy Buster".

There are train tracks out back too and I remember placing an occasional penny on the tracks to flatten it. The funny thing is, I can actually sit here and remember more and more just by checking out these old houses. The human mind.....wow.