Take a stroll down memory lane

I just read a blog suggesting it would be a worthwhile experience to go back to the favorite places we loved during our childhood.

Is that possible for you?

It’s not for me.

The town in which I grew up has changed so much that I barely could recognize anything I recall from my past.

The three movie theaters I loved are more than gone. The buildings have been demolished.

My favorite downtown stores are long gone, including the three five and tens — Woolworths, Newberry’s and the Jupiter.

If I use the term “five and ten cent store” today younger people won’t even know what I’m talking about.

Young people today will never know the thrill of going to “the five and dime” to buy 5 cents worth of potato chips that would be hand-shoveled into a paper bag for you. The chips were so greasy that big grease marks soon appeared on the bag.

Back then, it was the sign of good, fresh potato chips.

The blog I read suggested taking a trip to our old hometown and walking the streets that hold so many memories for you.

I’ll tell you the truth. The last time I walked the streets of my hometown I had tears streaming down my face. They weren’t happy, nostalgic tears either.

I was sick at heart to see how much the town I loved so much had changed.

In my childhood and teen years whenever I walked the streets of that town I was filled with pride for how people took care of their properties.

On a Saturday morning it was commonplace to see women scrubbing their porch and sweeping the sidewalk. In my house, that was my Saturday morning job.

Armed with a bucket of soapy water, I attacked any grime that had the nerve to think it would survive another day at our house.

Sadly, when I went back for a nostalgic visit years ago, there was grime everywhere. In many homes, screen doors were half hanging off the frame and too many homes looked like they hadn’t seen a coat of paint in a few decades.

That’s when I cried.

When I encountered a fellow I knew from way back then, I asked him what happened to the town.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “It hasn’t changed much.”

When I mentioned the peeling paint and rundown looking homes, he told me there were no longer jobs available. People are hurting, he said, and the new people moving into town aren’t the kind to think about home improvement.

Another thing I noted during that trip was that my concept of “rich” must have changed. I looked at homes I once considered “mansions where rich people lived” and what I saw were ordinary homes that ordinary people could buy.

I guess when you’re a kid your version of “rich” is different.

Heck, I vividly recall during my early childhood thinking that some day I would grow up and be rich — rich enough to buy soda by the case and potato chips by the pound.

By the time I was in high school we were buying soda by the case, delivered by “the soda man” every Saturday. We also bought potato chips by the can. But by then I knew that could no longer be considered rich.

There is one safe way I can visit the hometown of my past. I can conjure up memories of my happy childhood — memories of playing games in the street until it grew dark or parents called us to come home.

I recall rushing outside after every rainstorm to run through gutters and splash as much as possible.

My mother used to wonder why I would leave home with clean, pressed clothing but come home dirty and mud splattered.

“You look like you were walking in the creek,” she lamented.

Luckily, she didn’t ask that as a question. No doubt I was walking in the creek. It was a childhood pastime. Kids have no idea of what’s in the water and they really don’t care.

Growing up we kids could wander as far from home as our feet would carry us — and they carried us pretty far.

I remember walking to the other side of town and climbing a little mountain to Bunker Hill. No one worried about us. No one had to check on us. As long as we were home by dark, no one worried about our safety.

They were such pure, unadulterated days of childhood.

It’s sad that kids today will never know such simple joys.

Responsible parents can no longer let their kids roam for hours away from home. Too many dangers lurking.

But while we as youngsters valued being outside most of all, I doubt there are too many kids like that today.

They don’t realize how much their world has shrunk compared to past generations.

For many kids today, happiness is a computer game or a smartphone. They are happy to stay inside with their toys.

During my childhood, we called staying inside forced punishment.

Well, I can’t get a charge out of visiting my old hometown, as the blogger suggested.

But I sure can find joy taking a stroll down memory lane.

How about you?

What childhood memories do you most cherish?

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.