I thought of a few different titles for this post… “It’s Gone” and “Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead” were among a few that crossed my mind. Where do I start? Well, here we go…
Basically I have lived in Contra Costa County for about 20 years… Now let me tell you, that is frightening for me. When I was younger we moved a lot. No, I mean A LOT. I usually only went to a school for about two years before we picked up and left, I once went to a school for two weeks. I am not one for “setting down roots.” I like being mobile, I like the option to move, I have always prided myself on my ability to not only accept change, I encourage it! Well, that is until I accidentally set down roots…
When my brother and I moved in with our dad we were told that we would finish High School where we started it. Don’t get me wrong, we still moved while we attended High School, but just a few blocks away and in the same town. I did move away for a little over a year after High School, but for some strange reason I came back.
I really liked High School. I liked my friends, I liked my step-family that lived close by. I never thought I would get “attached” to the place though. I said mean things to my close friends about how we would not “hang-out” after High School and how I would never just go back to the school to check-in or hang out. Both ended up being true. I still talk to a few of my close friends, via the internet, but I don’t see any of my friends very often. I’ve only been back to the school a handful of times, for graduations or sporting events that I was dragged to. You see, I liked High School. I had a great time and wouldn’t change a thing, and I don’t need to go back and re-live it.
I now live a few blocks from the school and over the last year I have watched the city change. Where there used to be a city park they are now building new city office buildings. Personally I think the whole thing is pretty ugly, but the old offices are pretty old, so whatever, progress, right? What really got to me was that I had my first kiss in the park that now houses this enormous metal structure. I don’t even know the guy anymore, but I could have showed you the exact bench where it happened, if it was still there… That kind of got to me. Don’t forget though, I deal well with change, so I’ve gotten over it. I’ve moved on… Right? Well, I’m getting there.
Last week was my cousin’s wedding. We ventured to Northern California for a week-long of festivities! Actually, it was mostly preparation, but spending time with family is always (and never) work at the same time!
After an exhausting drive home we passed through the town where I had lived while I was in High School. I don’t go that way much. They’ve opened new roads out here. Unless I’m specifically going to my dad’s I can pretty much get away with never going through that town. At the corner to turn to my dad’s is a building that stood for (what I’ve been told was) ninety years. It was a building that held a lot of emotion for me, a lot of memories. And the building was gone.
In 1994 (and off-and-on over the next six years) I worked for Round Table Pizza. I worked there with friends and family. I met my husband there. I could tell you stories about that place, but that would stray from where I need to go now… Because the building is gone. I started in the back making pizza. I may have been the messiest person on the “paint” line. In my first weeks I was told that I didn’t talk very much, boy was that a mistake! I eventually worked my way through the back and got to work the front counter. I never thought answering a phone was as frightening in my entire life! I worked my way to supervisor and eventually assistant manager. I scrubbed baseboards and walls, cleaned the grout with a toothbrush and soda water, I cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed floors. I learned to make the pizza’s, roll the dough, count the tills. As a supervisor you would most often hear me shouting “CLOCK OUT AND GO HOME!” I would tell the employees that swearing was a sign of low intelligence because smart people could think of something better to say. I would giggle phrases like “Yippy Skippy!” I chased out a few bums, made a few enemies and I even threatened a few customers that I would “take them outside” if they couldn’t talk to my employees more respectfully. Summer’s were spent dripping sweat because the swamp cooler never worked right. After closing we would make brownies, cookies, sometimes cake or we would go up and get ice cream to finish out the night. It wasn’t the best job in the world, but I worked with some wonderful people and I had some amazing customers. We were a family.
We drove past that spot again yesterday. We were going to my nephew’s kindergarten graduation and there was that huge pile of ruble where a restaurant once stood. The last few years that we were dealing with that company I had thought many times about how nice it would be for that building to come crashing down, but now that it’s down… I don’t know… But don’t forget, I deal well with change, I’m all about change!
Change is going to happen. Progress may or may not be the end result. No matter how you spin it, Memory Lane can be a great place to visit, I just wouldn’t want to live there.
I will try to get by and take some pictures the next time I am in the area…
Kneading, Reading, Streaming