Memory Lane... what a trip!

Does everyone get nostalgic this time of year or is it just me?! Well I drove up to spend this past weekend with my grandparents, and actually I've done this several times in the past year. They are unable to travel like they used to and so I take the opportunities I get to go see them. It's only a 6 hour drive and while that may sound like a lot to some, when you consider that for 11 years while living in Dallas my daily commute could total 2-3 hours, this 6 hours on the highway doesn't seem like so much. I usually drive up on Friday afternoon and back on Sunday afternoon. OK, so the nostalgia part comes in because everytime I drive through Indianapolis and right by Noblesville on the highway (this is where I spent my 4 years of high school and my parents lived there for two more years while I was in college at Taylor University - which I also drive right by each time).

Anyway, most of those weekends, I make it a point of driving through Taylor campus and letting my memory enjoy itself while I observe the neverending changes and growth. I wonder about those friends that I had that I was unable to keep in touch with, where they are now and what God is doing in their lives. I make it a point to stop at Ivanhoe's for a shake and one time my grandparents and I even went over there for lunch. Now, Ivanhoe's is a very special place... first you must understand that Upland, IN is a very small town and a big portion of the population is the Taylor student body when school is in session. There are no fast food places (at least there still aren't to my knowledge), there are one or two pizza places - I mean "small town" USA. So Ivanhoe's is very like a fast food restaurant, but it is not a chain and it has the added benefit of 100 different flavors of ice cream sundaes and 100 different flavors of shakes!! It is within walking distance of the campus and was always a big treat when a student there to walk to Hoe's (as it is affectionately known by all those who know and love it). They make really good tenderloin sandwiches too.

On the other hand, Noblesville is actually a little farther off the highway route that I take and most of the time I just drive by and wish I had the time to wander through and see what all has changed and what has stayed the same. However, this particular weekend, I left quite a bit earlier from my grandparents' than I normally do, plus because I was so much earlier Hoe's wasn't open yet, which means I didn't get my fix this time around :o( and so when I got to the exit for Noblesville I decided this was the time to meander through. It was especially nice with all the leaves in their pretty colors! Wow, it was really hard to believe that it's been 16 years since I left the place for good, a little over 18 years since I graduated from high school and 22 years since we moved there in the first place. It has really grown up a lot - especially out on the highway east of town where there used to be really nothing at all it is now full of stores and restaurants. There is a new high school that appears to be about 3 or 4 times the size of the one that I graduated from and my high school is now the middle school. The downtown area has changed some and has a huge new court building and they are currently adding on to the hospital. I also drove out past my old church and the house we lived in. The church is the same, but the land around it that used to be empty is now all full of housing additions and the same across the highway from it. The house we lived in remains basically the same on the outside, it's a different color and the trees are much bigger. I took a couple pictures and am anxious to see what they look like next to pics I have from when we resided there. The lake looks about the same too, though the boat docks near the clubhouse where we kept our boat for the few years we had one, are no longer there. The old steps down to them are still there, but the docks are non-existent. I can remember going down there at night sometimes with friends and sitting on the end of the docks watching the stars.

Oh, to think of all I've done, how much I've grown and learned and changed since that time. I was almost hoping to see someone I knew walking around town, just to see how someone else has changed. But I think I'm glad I didn't, this way it was just me and my memories driving around. Some of the apartment buildings that I used to deliver newspapers too are even still there. They had built a new larger library during our tenure on the outskirts, but now they are tearing down the building of the original library in downtown. It's kind of a weird feeling to see buildings you remember being in and going to being torn down, especially when I really don't feel that old. For one fleeting moment I thought of knocking on the door to see if the current tenants of the house we once lived in would show me around, just to see the difference. But then I realized that given the world we live in today, they would have probably thought I was nuts!

Though it was fun, it was also a reminder that, though most people really don't like "change" it is not something you can get away from. All life is, is "change". I must say that I really hated it that we moved the times we did when we were growing up, but I look at it now and I'm so grateful that we did. I wouldn't be who I am today if those things weren't part of my life, nor would I know the precious friends that I retain from many different cities. My parents taught me how to deal with the inevitability of change, and I also learned that it is right to follow the Lord's call no matter where that may take you... and wherever it does take you He is there to help you through and show you the things He wants you to do for Him. If I hadn't had all that experience moving and changing and making new friends while we were growing up, it would have been harder when I was ready to move of my own accord and it would have been harder to see my parents retire and go to work halfway around the world. One thing I learned through it all was to always look for the blessings... they are there if you will look beyond your self accept them.

Take a trip down Memory Lane soon and enjoy it. Though we can't live in the past I think it is good to visit once in a while just to see how far we've come and then thank the Lord for bringing us through and to where we are!