Yes folks, this is it - my childhood home. The small ranch at 186 Clarissa Drive in North Bay Shore, New York doesn't look like much - and it isn't. But it is where I grew up - where I would go across the street to play baseball, hide in the woods at the water treatment center, ride and jump my bike in the abandoned lot behind Hemlock Park Elementary, until they built a house there. But, it was sold about 8 or 9 nine years ago, and just like my old neighborhood, it just isn't the same..
It's a shame to watch my hometown fall apart, but it is. The streets actually have grass growning in the cracks going across the street. All of the stores that I knew are gone. The apartments look like crap, and every overpass and fence is tagged with spray paint. But, it is where I was born, and North Bay Shore does put it's stamp on you when you grow up there. You grow up not exactly in the 'hood, but you have a toughness that most Long Islanders try to fake or buy at the local Foot Locker. Most of my friends have moved away from the old neighborhood, but we all share that common bond - it was home.
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6 comments:
home is where they love you
It's ironic that you would post this picture on the same day I received a note from my sister showing my childhood home up for sale. Mother and Daddy built our home in 1940 and we moved in on my 5th birthday. They sold it originally in 1986 and now it's on the market for $489,000. Hard to believe when I'm sure it cost less than $50,000 to build. But,oh the memories. Like you said...it was home.
Word is my house sold for $350,000 - although the market has been cut almost in half there. My parents paid $12,000 for the place in 1956... I saw your house June, and it's way better than this dump..
I think as we all grow older we long for the simpler days of mom's cooking and dad working in the yard or around the house. We miss the days of when as kids each day was something new to look forward to.
Our childhood homes bring back those safe memories and it is something we each try to emulate as adults. I know my dad use to say that I would understand better when I got older, as usual he was right.
Always remember this a house is bricks,wood and mortar but a home is where your family and memories will always be...teg
No strains of Billy Joel's "Allentown" in the background?
It is however in your history and documented in cyberspace. It will be remembered.
I was home a few weeks ago in Jersey. It is sad to see the way the old neighborhood has gotten. When you going to play at the beach Mike.
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