Thursday, February 03, 2005

Goodbye, house with the pink roof

Watching the local news last night, I heard a late breaking report of a fire in my old hometown. Obviously, my interest was piqued, but they gave no update before the end of the newscast. I almost forgot about the whole thing until something reminded me to check out my hometown online newspaper.

I clicked on the appropriate article link, and to my shock, saw a picture of a firefighter shooting water into my old childhood bedroom window. (Take a look.) Fortunately, nobody was in the home when it caught fire, and nobody was hurt putting it out. But unfortunately for the family that lives there now, the home has been destroyed.

It's amazing some of the things to which we maintain attachments. It's been years since I've been in the house (my family sold it in 1989 when I was 15), but suddenly all the memories came rushing back. Holidays, birthdays, everydays...I even vaguely remember the people who sold us the house, old Mr. and Mrs. Miller. It must have been about 1978 or 79, I was about 4.

While my memories are rich and varied, many of the best ones are rooted in baseball. Summer days were spent playing, practicing, thinking, dreaming baseball. Those were the days when about 40 games a season were on tv, so when a game was on, I was glued to the tv for every precious pitch. I think the best times I ever had, or ever will have, were the times my dad would pitch batting practice to me in the back yard. It wasn't a large yard, so we'd have to pretend to be upset when I got a hold of one that went smashing off the aluminum siding.

Those days, and now that place, are gone forever. Thanks for the memories, house with the pink roof. See you tonight in my dreams.

posted by bkopec @ 7:44 PM   2 comments