Re-visiting the Past - Wise or Not?

I went back a few times, chasing ghosts of the past I guess. Each visit was worse and a more dangerous place. I haven't been back in 20 years.
 

2 of 3 of my elementary schools are gone. The house I first lived in and our 33 acres is long gone. The second house is gone, replaced by some damn ugly apartments.

My old hometown went from 4-5,000 to 100K now. Basically been swallowed up by another city. My Jr high school friends have either died of cancer, STDs or other incidents.

High school was torture. I finally walked away from it. I was really tempted to move back to Washington Iowa. (Lived there in 1996) population of 7,300 it hasn't changed hardly at all.
 
Many times I've dreamed of going back to old cities or neighborhoods from the past, especially those I grew up in. But I know it would be a rather empty visit, as friends relatives are gone, and everything has changed. I agree that one can never go back-- at least with any high expectation of reminiscing or of seeing things as they were then.
 

I have no reason to go back in time as we moved from place to place so often after arriving in Australia in 1947. We had no relations here and my poor father worked 6 days a week trying to scratch up enough money just to exist. Yet they never complained. Moving ahead some 15 years they eventually had enough for a down payment on a block of land and the start of a new home. We thought we were rich and had many happy years growing up there.

Now I'm an elderly lady who had a wonderful marriage and 2 lovely sons. Husband died almost 16 years ago but the boys show great love and respect and worry about me all the time. I did go back to the old home and was totally disgusted when I saw parent's place.

It was painted Black with the fly screens hanging off. The street was a shamble with many homes in disrepair. I'll never go back again. That old song "Memories" will always stick with me because they were "The Good Old Days"
 
oscash said:
I have no reason to go back in time as we moved from place to place so often after arriving in Australia in 1947. We had no relations here and my poor father worked 6 days a week trying to scratch up enough money just to exist. Yet they never complained. Moving ahead some 15 years they eventually had enough for a down payment on a block of land and the start of a new home. We thought we were rich and had many happy years growing up there.

Now I'm an elderly lady who had a wonderful marriage and 2 lovely sons. Husband died almost 16 years ago but the boys show great love and respect and worry about me all the time. I did go back to the old home and was totally disgusted when I saw parent's place.

It was painted Black with the fly screens hanging off. The street was a shamble with many homes in disrepair. I'll never go back again. That old song "Memories" will always stick with me because they were "The Good Old Days"
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well it sounds either like society in change or society in decay ? sometimes there has to be some decay before rejuvenation??
 
I used to go back from time to time but it kept subtley changing? and although recognized by "the gang" I was no longer part of the inner core. as we all grew older in our different environs we all became different and then it stopped - I would still go back to see family by friends had evaporated into thin air? No once you've gone then its gone for good? I would stay over with different aunties and grans and they were all pleased to see me but then realized that it was only me and other family members just couldn't bother?? As the old song goes "breakin up seems to hard to do?"
 
I went back to one of my childhood apartments. The huge tree where we made forts, high up in its branches turned out to be a rather small tree and where our "forts" were turned out to be about 6 feet off the ground. The houses were a lot smaller. In the "downtown" district, the streets are still there, but everything else has changed.
 
Revisiting childhood places, the NE part of the country for me, either physically or even in my mind, can get exhausting.

I really enjoy the memories I still have, and just want to keep them storaged away in my head as I remember them… . That works for me.
 
I'm kind of divided in re-visiting the past. Remembering good times, the good people & places you enjoyed visiting is one thing. That's a positive in your life.

Then you have people that can't let go of bad things & keep re-living them when they should be left in the past. I think they enjoy it for a reason I can't understand.

Does anyone else have family members that won't let go of the houses you guys grew up in that had to be sold, but they didn't buy them? If you do, how do or did you handle them. I'm curious.
 
I went to a couple of places. After that, I made it a point to never revisit any of the past. I like the images that I have of them and don't want it to be destroyed by "progress"
 

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