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<blockquote data-quote="Mattsmom277" data-source="post: 451979" data-attributes="member: 4264"><p>I live in my hometown. I've left twice, once to Toronto, once to Connecticut. I always landed back here and would ask myself "why"?? This is NOT the town I grew up in. I have lived the past 7 years alongside the street I grew up in from birth to about age 9 when I entered the foster care system. Oddly that one street next to me, where I lived, hasn't changed much. Even the Italian families that grew huge gardens and had similar statues in their yards are even still living there or have passed on and their adult children are now in those homes raising their families. I get very nostalgic when I walk down the street, seeing those familiar gardens and remembering raiding them after dark and having the older widow across the street come out with his cane in one hand and grab a rake in the other to wave and shake at us as he screamed at us in Italian. We would be so scared of him and only raid his garden when double dared and too embarassed to back down in front of friends. It's funny because now I look back and see what we as kids missed. That he was never actually angry, that it humored him to scare us off but he never really minded, I am sure he got a kick out of it. He also was the neighbor to play Santa and anonomously leave bikes for us in our front porch to find Christmas morning. I found out as a teen that it had been him, it took years for my mother to find out who had done such a amazing thing for us. This street was full of families that all attended our church or the other church on our block. That church is now up for sale as of a few months ago. It's a beautiful small church with so much history for long term Italian families in our downtown core and a huge loss for them. </p><p></p><p>Nothing about my town feels the same now though other than that one street that somehow has resisted change. The neighborhood stores are long gone. Entire huge subdivisions were put up where beautiful woods and trails once were. Our small outlying section that used to hold small shops is now full of big box stores, fast food chains and home improvement stores. Our downtown was once the hub of this town. Now they work hard to keep it quaint but it is slowly dying out and losing buyers to the big stores and the 2 malls. easy child's father has his book shop in the main street downtown and I think he only keeps afloat locating his shop there because it is a french language book shop and its the only french shop in town. </p><p></p><p>I guess we all can find reasons to see the good things progress can bring but it isn't always for the better of a community and is often hardest on those of us who remember quieter times with kids still all out playing in droves safely on the streets etc. Certainly my kids have grown up here but will not look back at their childhood here as I can do. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mattsmom277, post: 451979, member: 4264"] I live in my hometown. I've left twice, once to Toronto, once to Connecticut. I always landed back here and would ask myself "why"?? This is NOT the town I grew up in. I have lived the past 7 years alongside the street I grew up in from birth to about age 9 when I entered the foster care system. Oddly that one street next to me, where I lived, hasn't changed much. Even the Italian families that grew huge gardens and had similar statues in their yards are even still living there or have passed on and their adult children are now in those homes raising their families. I get very nostalgic when I walk down the street, seeing those familiar gardens and remembering raiding them after dark and having the older widow across the street come out with his cane in one hand and grab a rake in the other to wave and shake at us as he screamed at us in Italian. We would be so scared of him and only raid his garden when double dared and too embarassed to back down in front of friends. It's funny because now I look back and see what we as kids missed. That he was never actually angry, that it humored him to scare us off but he never really minded, I am sure he got a kick out of it. He also was the neighbor to play Santa and anonomously leave bikes for us in our front porch to find Christmas morning. I found out as a teen that it had been him, it took years for my mother to find out who had done such a amazing thing for us. This street was full of families that all attended our church or the other church on our block. That church is now up for sale as of a few months ago. It's a beautiful small church with so much history for long term Italian families in our downtown core and a huge loss for them. Nothing about my town feels the same now though other than that one street that somehow has resisted change. The neighborhood stores are long gone. Entire huge subdivisions were put up where beautiful woods and trails once were. Our small outlying section that used to hold small shops is now full of big box stores, fast food chains and home improvement stores. Our downtown was once the hub of this town. Now they work hard to keep it quaint but it is slowly dying out and losing buyers to the big stores and the 2 malls. easy child's father has his book shop in the main street downtown and I think he only keeps afloat locating his shop there because it is a french language book shop and its the only french shop in town. I guess we all can find reasons to see the good things progress can bring but it isn't always for the better of a community and is often hardest on those of us who remember quieter times with kids still all out playing in droves safely on the streets etc. Certainly my kids have grown up here but will not look back at their childhood here as I can do. :( [/QUOTE]
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