Ghosts.

Tiny House Series

Over time I have noticed that when you leave a place you have lived for a very long time and then you return, whether for a visit or to live there again, there are ghosts of the past everywhere you look.

I remember the first time I visited Key West after being away for many years. Things were different and yet the same. People on bikes with small children were everywhere just as we had done before. I kept thinking I must know them until I realized I was older and most of them were not even born when I lived there. It is a very weird feeling. I was seeing ghosts.

Since moving back to Brookline I feel the ghosts everywhere. Walking past my grandsons old schools I hear the kids joyful screams in the playground. And I remember. I can still see him playing on the monkey bars. But wait that is not him. He is in the army now. I walk past my parents old apartment building and can’t help but feel sad that they are no longer alive for me to visit them there. More ghosts.

Walking past the Regency, an apartment building on Beacon Street, I remember my good friends who once lived there. We spent a lot of time with them in Brookline until we all moved to Arizona together and politics tore us apart. One of them recently died and I wish I could go back in time now and repair that friendship. Moral of the story, don’t let politics ruin a good friendship.

I find myself constantly looking into peoples faces to see if they are anyone I knew from before. I have seen a few familiar faces. We are all so much older now. I left when I was 68 and now I am 75. And they are all older too. It is a bit jarring I have to say.

They say you can’t go home again. I don’t know who said that but it isn’t true. You can. But with caveats!