Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

Recently, when talking to my wife and some of our friends, they were surprised to find out that as a kid I rarely left my little village of Otter River. That got me to thinking why that was.

To begin with, as a kid, my area of town seemed to be so big. We actually lived on one side of a 3-sided block that had a total of 19 houses counting each side of the 3 streets. Ours was on Pleasant Street. We had our milk delivered to our door every other day. My 2 best friends lived within 3 houses of mine. 2 others lived only two houses further. There was a field in the middle of the triangle that acted as the neighborhood adventure area. When the field was mowed, we played wiffle ball, played tag and caught insects and snakes. When the grass grew tall, we played hide and seek. All year long we used it as a short cut to each other’s houses. My grandmother lived upstairs from us, while a great aunt, great uncle and 5 cousins lived next door. We had an elementary school just up the street and the Catholic Church I attended was across the field. We got permission from the church to use its parking lot as a basketball court. We got together to paint the lines and install some lights. Behind the parking lot was the local Little League field (I played for the Braves.). Diagonally across from my house was a large brick building that housed a post office, library and general store. The upstairs was a function room. Directly across the street was the bustling Otter River Hotel. There was even a bus route with a stop across the street from us that took us back and forth to the “big” city of Gardner. My dad was the driver. We didn’t have to go anywhere else. Everything we needed was right there.

How things have changed from those idyllic times. My old street was renamed River Street and no longer are there milk deliveries. All of my friends have married and moved away. The field has been abandoned and gone to seed. There are no shortcuts. My grandmother, aunt, uncle and 2 cousins have passed away. We’ve lost track of the others. The elementary school was torn down because of mold. The basketball court has been abandoned and the Little League field in overgrown with trees. And I’m no longer a Catholic. The brick building that housed the post office, library and general story is now a bar. The Otter River Hotel burned to the ground on Thanksgiving morning. A few years ago my old house also burned down. There no longer is a bus route to anywhere and my dad has passed away.

When Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can’t go home again,” He was right. The past is simply memories. Remember them with joy, but live in the present. It can and will be the memories of the future.