Fond Memories

As a child I was fascinated by the street sweepers.  I would wait all day, almost every day just to see them come down the street.  

I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old, but it was the highlight of my day.

When I return, I see the things that have changed and the things that have not.  My memories are still vivid, but  my reasons to return to Duncan are growing small in number.  

Like me, everyone moved away.  Only a handful of friends remain.  I left for college and when I came back, everyone was gone.  It wasn't like October Road, but I wish it was.

My parents have passed away and my brothers and sisters have either moved away or never had much to do with me.

The only things left in Duncan for me are memories of a happier time.  I walk the streets and see the places where I got my first kiss, where I got my first broken heart, where that one girl caught my eye.  then I see the places that are no longer there.  

It is bitter sweet.  But the bitter is over whelming the sweet.  I also see the house I was raised in rotting to the ground.  I see our old hangouts changing.  The places I worked closing down.  The streets I once owned are becoming foreign to me.  

The pavement I once knew every crack in is now gone completely.  The buildings we ran through as children are now condemned.  The Five and Dime has been closed for decades.  Goodner's is almost gone (probably completely gone by now)  Gibson's is gone.  Wild Willy's closed when I still lived there.  All of the hospitals are closed but one. 

I see the lawns that were once immaculately manicured are now over grown with weeds as the last person to care has passed away or left the town. 

I see the houses where friends lived are now vacant or completely gone as the last person to care has passed away.

I see "the drag" is no longer bustling as the last person that cared has moved on.

It may just be me, but Duncan seems like a ghost town that has just not had the utilities turned off, yet.

Time marches, we do not.