Say What?

They say that you can’t go back home again; maybe not but I did. I was out on my bike yesterday and I found myself not far from the home I grew up in. I decided to go a little off my intended route and cycle through the old neighborhood—something I do maybe once every couple years. Anyway, yesterday was the first time I’ve ever seen anyone out in the yard and when I did I didn’t hesitate to stop and introduce myself. The owner’s name is Byron; I forget his last name. He was out edging the grass along the sidewalk and I biked up to him and told him I was one of the original residents of his home and that my dad had this house built 40 years ago. His face lit up and he put out his hand and we exchanged greetings. I looked around the yard and told him that my dad had put in the fence and I helped him a bit but I mostly remember just trying to walk along the top rail all along the perimeter of the yard. I told him how I'd loved it here. I mentioned the tree swing in the backyard and ...

I brought Rachel to Coles to have her hair cut and high lighted the other day. While we were sitting there waiting for her stylist I heard a woman's voice from across the way say, 'Kevin...is that you?' It was a neighbor lady (Luann Coburn) from my old neighborhood whom I hadn't seen in a dozen years or more. We chatted for a few minutes before Rachel was led away to have her hair done. That was a nice touch to my day. I left Coles to run over to BestBuy while I killed time waiting for Rachel. As I was parking my truck I looked over in the truck next to me and there was another familiar face I hadn't seen in over 10 years; a friend from high school: Gary Sink. I yelled over at him and we both got these big smiles on our faces. We stood in the near 100-degree heat in the parking lot and talked for 20 minutes catching up on the last decade. We said goodbye and I went into the store thinking, wow, two in one day—that's pretty odd . The next night Tammy and I went t...