Childhood Memories

This was the first time I stayed with family in Guelph Ontario since some of my immediate family live there and were gracious to let me stay with them!  I actually really grew to like the city even though I knew very little about it when I arrived.  

It dawned on me at one point during my stay that the smaller city of Guelph reminded me of Kitchener-Waterloo some 40 years ago only with modern day conveniences making life a little easier -- like cars with heated seats, GPS systems and electronically controlled radar.  The twin cities in southern Ontario are located about a half hour west of Guelph where I spent the first 20 years of life.  

Speaking of where I spent my youth, thanks to my niece, I was able to visit the home where I spent my childhood!  My niece arranged a visit with the current owners so I was able to travel back over 50 years to remember life at Linton Place.  

Summer view of our home on Linton Place

The house has changed a little (ha) over the past 5 decades including ripping out the green shag carpet and removing rot-iron decorative railings that separated a couple rooms back in the 60s version.  Actually, I had to 'look past' the upgraded changes of modern kitchen and big screen TV downstairs while remembering life back in my childhood.  At the same time, I have to commend the current owners for doing an impressive job bringing this home into the 21st century! 

Remembering my friend Val standing by the tree we just planted - barely 8 feet high at the time

My goodness, everywhere I looked while visiting the house was another memory -- Christmas tree over here, my sister in a wedding gown over there, laying on the stairs as a 3-year-old watching Romper Room, getting a buzz-cut from Dad downstairs (with the hot electric razor sometimes touching the scalp), blowing out candles on my birthday cake in the dining room, etc, etc.

It actually took me by surprise, but I could also visualize my parents in the former office we had in the basement.  Dad adding invoices at his desk using the manual-levered calculator and Mom at her desk punching the manual typewriter.  Too funny: when I searched the internet for a picture of an antique calculator, they had images of battery-operated handheld calculators from the 70s which were generations later!  I finally found one similar to one Dad used...

Needless to say, visiting my childhood home was not on my to-do list in Ontario this year.  But, unbeknownst to my niece, it was on my Bucket List to do at some point before I exit this world.  How awesome to be able to revisit memories that are still very much alive and well!