My First Picture

I am from Dayton, Ohio.  I am the youngest of four.  Growing up, my family and I have moved to many places, but Dayton was always home.  One way or another, we always ended up back in Dayton.  Each time that I return to visit family and friends, I drive by old houses that my family lived in and reminisce on my experiences there.  I think about the music that I listened to and the clothes that I wore.  Now that I have children of my own, I take them with me and share stories of the things my brothers and I did.  I tell them of the injuries, the fights, the pets and anything else that comes to mind.  They really begin to glow and ask many questions about their grandparents and uncles.  I also use that time to remind them of how I always know what they are doing, simply because I did the very same things.

The one house that I have the fondest memories of was on Sylvian Drive.  The house is located on the west side of Dayton in Residence Park.  It was my Grandmother's house that she and my Grandfather purchased together.  My Grandfather passed away when I was two years-old. My Grandmother moved into a seniors apartment complex, near the church we attended, but she kept the house for my father to live in.  Growing up, I believed that house was destined for my brothers and I.  It had a great yard and it seemed to be a large house when I was a child.  Looking at it now, it amazes me that it only had two bedrooms.  One interesting characteristic about that house was there were four trees planted in the front.  Symbolically, one for each of my brothers and I. 

Standing (L) Donniel and Joseph. Sitting (L) Aaron and Me

I can recall coming home to that house as far back as being two years old.  I can recall the many times that our neighbor complained about us jumping the fence into her yard to retrieve a ball.  I can also remember the many times my Father watched Star Trek while smoking marijuana.  I guess that's why that show really did well for a lot of people.   I think marijuana actually aided my memory of those times.  As a child, I recall always standing while riding in the car.  My Mother and I now laugh about all the times my Father would smoke marijuana while driving.  She also described how I would seem to get a contact high.  After my parents separated, my Grandmother sold the house.  That was a very painful day for me.  My brothers and I always spoke about the good times we had there and we vowed to go back and purchase the house so it could be in the family once again. 

Eventually, as life went on, my Grandmother passed away and my brothers and I grew up and went our separate ways.  Again, one way or another all of my brothers have found their way back to Dayton, but military service is what keeps me away.  I really can't say whether or not I would live in Dayton; I am not that fond of snow. I have experienced living on both the East and West Coast and now a foreign country; Japan.  Though comforting and familiar, Dayton seems to be more like the country and I prefer living in the big city.  With the beach, of course.

I don't have many artifacts from that time of my life.  No toys, pictures, comic books or even baby shoes.  All of those things seemed to have disappeared after my Grandmother passed away.  However, by the wonders of FaceBook, one of my cousins posted a picture of my brothers and I that we took in front of that house.  I am not exactly sure how she got it, and it really doesn't matter.  The picture brought back a lot of great memories and experiences.  Even the hope of buying back that old house on Sylvian Drive.