It is sad to see change sometimes

Amber and I stayed in Spokane after the cruise until Sunday morning. We headed back on Sunday. We stopped for Gas in Pocatello and drove by Lou Avenue. I parked the van and walked around the brick and cement remains of what once was Grandma and Grandpa's house. Since they had removed all the wood portions of the house, only the chimney was left standing - almost as if it were a tribute to the years of Grandpa's heavy use of building his warm fires. It was wierd to search for the covered sidewalks that so often we would use as we would walk up to the door to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I stood and tried to picture the green grass and the flowers in the flowerbed. Fond memories of the peppermint plant in the corner of the flowergarden just outside the door reminded me of the first time I had tried a leaf from a peppermint plant. I also noticed the faint rows of the vegetable garden harvested long ago.

As I stood there on the empty foundation of the house, I fought back a few sentimental tears. The empty basement reminded me of another foundation that I viewed on that same spot when I was only a few years old. I remembered helping the family tear down the old white house that we lived in for a time. Once we had torn down that house, I remember standing by the old foundation with curiosity and wonder at the new house that would be built for Grandma and Grandpa. Now, as I looked at this second foundation, there was less curiosity and excitement for the new, rather a lump in my throat as I remembered times gone by and days soon to be forgotten.

I turned from that spot and walked slowly back to the van. I let my mind wander and I tried to picture how Lou avenue looked some 25 years ago. I wonder if my kids will ever really know how it was to walk from Lyda's house, down the lane to the old white house. Or how it was to live in the red house next door to Grandma and Grandpa's house. They probably won't be able to look at the shopping complexes and comercial buildings and imagine acres of pasture with horses and other animals that we would see as we strolled from one relative's house to another on Lou Ave.

I guess it is progress. I should understand that word, I am in a business that promotes and thrives off of change and adapting to the latest inventions. But deep down, I am a sentimental one. It is hard to say goodbye to so many icons of bygone days and cherished memories. I am glad, however, that they are all memories that I want to hold onto rather than forget.

So, as I stop and look at the foundations, chimneys, and desolate flowergardens of years gone by, I am grateful for the good memories that I can treasure in my heart. It is time to bid farewell to Lou Avenue. Thanks for the memories and good times had along your short span of road.