Too Many Changes

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It has been a busy weekend for me. I went back home for a school friend's funeral Saturday.  I should not be going to a school friend's funeral - not for at least another twenty years. Everything about that trip made me sad.

What is up with my hometown anyway? Do we really need a bank on every corner in town? My elementary school was torn down to build a BANK! The Sunny Side Truck Stop is now a BANK! Bet we can't go to the back door of a BANK and get ten of the best hamburgers in the world for a buck. How long before the old hospital is torn down to build a BANK? Didn't we do just fine when the only bank was Farmers Bank which isn't Farmers Bank anymore but I usually still say Farmers Bank?

I guess the old high school will be a City Complex soon. Couldn't they all just wait until I don't remember how things used to be? Someday I won't remember falling down in the dirt and gravel of the steep hill beside the bus garage, hoping no one saw me, and pretending my knees weren't scratched and bleeding when I got to school. 

And someday I will forget sitting in study hall when they announced President Kennedy had been shot. Someday I will forget there even was a President Kennedy. Oh wait, probably when my nurse comes out to give me a mini-mental exam and asks who the President is, I will  say Kennedy.

Speaking of memory.....I forgot today would have been my Mama's birthday.


This is Mama when she was nine months old. Don't you think we should all have our pictures taken in a dishpan? Especially while naked with snow on the ground? This picture makes no sense to me at all.

Comments

  1. TexWisGirlApril 22, 2012 at 10:30 PM

    i am sorry for the loss of your school friend. yes, obviously much too early to say goodbye.

    the photo of your mom made me laugh. we have some of those in our family, too. the dishpan shots. :)

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  2. camp and cottage livingApril 22, 2012 at 11:08 PM

    That does look like a chilly bath!!
    Too bad about your friend. Surprisingly, many people I went to HS with are gone already. Who would've thought?
    It's hard to see so many changes isn't it.
    New is definitely not always beter!

    ReplyDelete
  3. PondsideApril 22, 2012 at 11:30 PM

    The hospital in which I was born was turned into a school and then it burned down.
    The church in which I was married was bulldozed for a runway.
    My elementary school was closed and boarded up....so many memories.
    I love the photo of your mama - perhaps it was the first hot day of spring and the leftover snow mounds were melting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 23, 2012 at 1:37 AM

    My sympathy in the loss of your friend.

    I've seen a lot of babies in the dishpan photos, but none outside in the snow. God bless you with sweet memories of your precious mom.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TxFarmhouseApril 23, 2012 at 6:20 AM

    We, too, have banks on every corner. We live near a college town but, please, there are way too many. I am also a child of the 50's, turning 60 this year. They store hay in the building where I went to school. Time is moving way too fast. sorry to hear about your young friend.

    ReplyDelete
  6. KerinApril 23, 2012 at 8:32 AM

    So sorry about the loss of your friend.
    That's a tough one.

    No wonder it was a sad visit for you.... with the loss of so many things; your friend, the way your hometown used to look and feel.

    Things always change.
    It's hard.

    Sending you hugs.. Kerin

    ReplyDelete
  7. RoseApril 23, 2012 at 8:39 AM

    Oh, that last line about naked in a dishpan with snow on the ground...that is hilarious.

    We have a very small town...probably under 10,000 people and have three banks and one of them has a second branch!

    ReplyDelete
  8. A Colorful WorldApril 23, 2012 at 4:09 PM

    I always feel such a connection with you, Rita. Wish we could meet one day and really get to know one another. As I read your post, I could see my home town plain as day. I wasn't raised there and only lived there briefly a couple of times, but it is my hometown because that area is where my relatives are mostly from. That was the town my grandmother walked to to go to work at the library after she lost her husband to a lightning strike. The changes are always hard to take.

    I also have lost a friend, and it rattled me to the core and I suppose I will never get over it, because it was so sudden and unexpected, and well, she was just far too young. I am so sorry you lost your friend, Rita. I know how hard that is.

    May God's grace surround you, and may His comfort be ever-present right now. Lots of love, dear blogger friend!

    Marie

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  9. ButtercupApril 23, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    We have banks all up and down Broadway in Manhattan. They replaced little groceries and restaurants.

    I had to smile when you wrote that at some time far in the future you will be asked who the President is and you will say, Kennedy. I think I will do exactly the same thing.

    So sorry about your friend. We are much too young for this.

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  10. amy @ Life in Pink Hi-TopsApril 23, 2012 at 8:22 PM

    So sad to hear about your friend. Very sad indeed.
    I think we should all have our pictures taken in dishpans! My mom has pictures of her dad in a dishpan too. I just have pics of some of my kids in the tub. Yeah, they're not thrilled about what I may do with those....

    ReplyDelete
  11. LorileeApril 23, 2012 at 8:37 PM

    I said good-bye to a Bunco friend this week. She was only a year or two older than me. So wrong. Love your photo of your Mom. I have a photo of my dad and an aunt in bathing suits in the snow. Snow is very rare around here.
    And yes, dewberries are similar to blackberries. They grow wild in South Texas.
    Blessings,
    Lorilee

    ReplyDelete
  12. NancyApril 24, 2012 at 4:57 AM

    I think when we lose a friend or loved one, it brings our own mortality that much closer to the surface. I'm sorry for your loss -- and I agree that progress is not always for the better.

    ReplyDelete
  13. TracyApril 24, 2012 at 7:37 AM

    hah, love the photo and Happy Birthday to your Mum~
    some change is good but too much of it too soon tends to throw me! :) good thouhts!

    ReplyDelete

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