Do you ever go back to the streets you grew up in?
By Carl Halling
@CarlHalling (3617)
United Kingdom
May 7, 2008 4:06pm CST
I grew up in the small quiet back streets of a suburban area of west London about half a dozen miles from the city centre. It was a simpler time. An age of sweet shops and green grocers and the local green and the strange money, coppers, tuppence, threepence, sixpence, shillings, five bob notes, that existed before decimalisation. It was a world away from today. How about you? What were the streets like where you grew up? Do you miss them?
Do you ever go back to pay a visit to them in a spirit of nostalgia? Or are they far far away from where you are now?
2 people like this
5 responses
@danzer (2723)
• Philippines
7 May 08
I didn't grew up in the streets. I grew up in a remote place where you can imagine that tarzan may be present. I enjoyed nature. No problem with some food because we had fruit-bearing trees. As I reminisce the past, the past that is already gone, how I wish I could return back to those times of sweet memories. Oh I'm sorry to cut this response because my tears are falling from my cheeks. I miss those days!
2 people like this
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
7 May 08
Your childhood sounds wonderful; and I'm sorry you miss it so much. Things are so much simpler in childhood. I miss mine too.
@arvee17 (730)
• Philippines
10 May 08
the place i grew up is just a simple quiet place... with only a few people living there before but not like now... there are a lot of people now in there...
I haven't gone back there for a very long time now... I don't see any reason to go back... I don't have anyone in there to visit anyways...
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
24 May 08
That's sad. There's no one I know in the area I grew up in either. I moved out when I was about 15. I still think back though; it was a lovely time. But I effectively left there at 12 to go to naval college in the country.
@buenavida (9985)
• Sweden
25 May 08
Great discussion, it will wake up old memories that maybe many of us have not thought of for a long time..
I grew up in a quiet part of a town in Finland. There were lots of places to play in, people were still using horses and wagons - even if there were cars too.
There were cows and chickens and sheep in this part of town, so we could buy milk from one of our neighbors - yes, life was simple. This was the time right after the war, and we had not so many material things, but we were happy most of the time.
When I visit that part of Finland, I love to go back and see the well known streets and the house that once was ours.
Even if we feel nostalgia, we could be grateful for the good childhood we had and we still have the memories!!
..
@buenavida (9985)
• Sweden
27 May 08
Well, we had a great gift - it was imagination. So it was a good thing not to have lots of expensive toys.
Many kids have too many things these days..
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
26 May 08
Your childhood sounds wonderful. For me the simple life is best. Less stress. Real happiness in life comes from taking pleasure in simple things. I didn't have all that much as a kid either, but whatever came my way made me happy.
1 person likes this
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
27 May 08
That's true. We made our own fun, and boy what fun it was. We viewed the world with eyes full of wonder and played in it freely. We had toys and gadgets of course, but they were as rare treats.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157494)
• United States
7 May 08
No, I do not go back. I do not even go back to some of the family haunts. The streets where I grew up, were much busier than the streets I wander now. I like the current ones much better. We have small businesses downtown, not necessarily major chains. Local restaurants, not yuppie chains that look the same in every town. I like the uniqueness.
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
7 May 08
I'm glad you like where you are now. I don't go back to my streets often either. They are a litle bit of a distance away, and I moved from them when I was fourteen. I feel closer to my current area. This is my town as it were.
@kbourgerie (8780)
• United States
8 May 08
I grew up in London too. Northolt actually. I remember my mother giving us sixpence every Friday to buy sweets with and she'd take us for fish and chips. I wish I could go back and visit, but its kind of far to travel. I live in the Western half of the United States, but you never know, perhaps one day.
1 person likes this
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
9 May 08
I love fish and chips; I haven't had it in yesterday's newspaper for some time though. I still like sweets too, although they are hard on my teeth these days so I tend to avoid them.
