Awaken Childhood Memories Taking a Walk Where You Grew Up

Taking a Walk Back in Time

If you can return to where you grew up, you can journey back to recall childhood memories.

Taking a walk in your childhood neighborhood can help you reconnect with your past and bring awareness to the thoughts and feelings that shape your adult life.

I did this by walking from my home, where I grew up, to the school I had attended. Many enlightening memories emerged, and I'll share my experience to motivate you to try it yourself.

We'll examine the following topics:

• How to re-experience childhood memories
• Walking down memory lane
• How the choices we make affect our lives
• Trees divulge the power of perseverance
• Where are all our childhood friends?
• Realizing a new perspective
• Conscious thoughts emerge
• A different path to conclude the day

How to Re-Experience Childhood Memories

As a child, I took the bus to school and sometimes rode my bicycle. However, I often liked walking to school in the morning and back home afterward. My high school was only a mile from my home, and it took me 20 minutes to walk.

To experience this again as an adult, I drove to my old neighborhood and parked my car by the house where I grew up.

When I got out of my car, I looked at that familiar house with fond childhood memories. Whoever lived there now continued to take great care of the property.

After taking some pictures, I started on my journey along the sidewalk—following the same path I took 50 years earlier.

Walking Down Memory Lane

As I walked along the sidewalk, the sights and sounds were very familiar, as if nothing had changed. The homes were the same, with manicured shrubs and lawns. The streets were lined with parked cars, just as I had remembered.

There was the sound of a bus going by at times on the main road. It all was very refreshing to relive, even hearing the birds tweeting in the trees.

Familiar sights and sounds bring old memories back into focus. I felt like that same teenager all over again, and the years just floated away.

How the Choices We Make Affect Our Lives

I lived in a well-to-do neighborhood but didn't have any idea of what that meant when I was a child. It became clear to me, as I walked along, that I was grateful for the choices my parents had made.

Every decision one makes in life has a tremendous effect on one's future and even more so in their children's lives. We tend to take that for granted.

Most of us never even consider how we got to where we are now. We never know the reason for our existence or the part we play in the lives of others and the world in which we live.

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Many of these thoughts came to my mind as I took that walk. Life doesn't just happen to us.

I became aware of the fact that we design our own lives.

We make it what it is with the choices we make, with the friends we keep, with the places we move to and live in, with the interests we develop, and with the person we choose to be with as a lifelong partner through it all.

Trees Divulge the Power of Perseverance

As I continued walking along, I noticed the trees were much bigger than I remember.

Trees show us the power of perseverance. They grow quite a bit in 50 years and can survive through harsh winters and intense storms.

As I continued that walk among the trees, I began to get in touch with my own determination to survive.

I took the trials and tribulations I've dealt with for granted. Now, I suddenly realized the power that I had in me. It all became clear just by noticing those trees.

I continued walking block after block, thinking about the years that had gone by, what I had accomplished, and where I had failed.

A mile is only about 20 city blocks. Walking a mile takes about 20 minutes at an average pace of 110 steps per minute.

It dawned on me that the same applies to everything we do—or attempt to do. We take baby steps with everything we wish to accomplish. The steps add up minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, and year-by-year. We can achieve our goal. No matter what it is, we can get things done.

Where Are All Our Childhood Friends?

As I reached the halfway point, I noticed I was passing the home of a childhood girlfriend. I wondered if she was still there. I thought about what she might look like now. Would I recognize her? Would she remember me?

How silly, I thought, to be thinking of such things. After all, 50 years had passed. Most certainly, she would be long gone from that neighborhood, living somewhere else in a new life, with new friends, possibly with a family of her own.

With that in mind, I thought about other friends who once lived by the path I was walking along. I was wondering:

• Where were they now?
• How had their lives changed since those high school days?
• What experiences did they have?
• What choices did they make?
• What struggles have they had?
• Did they even survive?

Realizing a New Perspective

Here I am. I made it to my old school. It looks the same.

I remember those tall windows. We had long rods, with hooks at the top, to open the upper windows.

I walked around the entire school and envisioned myself entering and leaving through the large steel doors. It all looked so familiar. The experience made my thoughts turn inward, and I started thinking of my life and judging my decisions.

All through my life, I've been using my present state of mind to analyze my plans based on the options I had along the way.

I began to realize that I should have done the thought process the other way around. I should have changed my thinking to have a different perspective, to consider the future based on what I wanted to make without limiting myself to present options.

It took me 65 years to figure that out! If you can change your thoughts, you can change your life!

Conscious Thoughts Emerge

There was one last thing I needed to do. I had good and bad memories of the playground where I hung out in my teens. I walked a few extra blocks to the neighborhood park where so many things happened in those days. The social activities. The basketball. The fights!

Yeah, there were bullies in those days, too. I wonder what happened to them.

Oh, yes, the girls! I will never forget the girls. I was shy in those days, but one trick I had was making eye contact. Once I got that, the conversation started.

A Different Path to Conclude the Day

Well, it's time to head back. While heading back to my car, I took a different path. I remember that I used to do that in those days when I went to school. I used to like having a change of scenery rather than always taking the same path. So, I would walk along different blocks.

It was still only a mile, but with different results. Hey, it's kind of like real life. We can't expect different results if we keep doing the same thing! Where have I heard that before?

I know I used to repeat things several times when I stumbled through life, hoping to find that I was right. It took years to learn how to turn those stumbling blocks into stepping stones by finding real solutions to problems.

© 2015 Glenn Stok

Comments

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on August 21, 2016:

AudreyHowitt - I guess that means summer is over. That's another childhood memory of school. I used to count the years by the summers that went by.

Audrey Howitt from California on August 21, 2016:

Came back to read this great article--you know school has already started in California!!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on August 21, 2016:

Faith Reaper - I'm glad you enjoyed taking this walk with me Faith. The image of that woman in the wheel chair that you remembered from your early days is very profound. To think that she is the same person you saw as a little girl decades earlier. I'm sure there is an emotional story behind that and it would make for a good article about her life if you could start a conversation with her and get permission to write about her life.

Faith Reaper from southern USA on August 21, 2016:

Wonderful article, Glenn!

I truly enjoyed walking with you along your neighborhood streets to school and back, with all the thoughts it provoked in your mind. It is a great idea you have come up with here from the perspective of today going back in lieu of starting in the past and going forward.

Your childhood neighborhood is lovely and what a beautiful childhood home!

I haven't done the walk through my young childhood neighborhood, but I have driven through it and, surprisingly, it did produce a lot of forgotten memories. My mind almost could not comprehend, as it was so surreal to me, when I saw the same girl, who is now an older woman, still sitting on her front porch in a wheelchair, just as she did when I was a young child! She was still there in a wheelchair. My brother told me her parents passed on long ago, and I wonder who takes care of her. It really blows my mind to think she spent decades (her entire life) sitting on that front porch watching life pass her by ...so sad in my mind. It's still hard for me to even fathom such! I hope somehow she found some sort of happiness in this life. When we were so young, we did not understand handicap children or persons and she could not even speak in a normal voice, but would make loud sounds which kind of scare us little kids, just because we did not understand. I do hope she had some friends during her lifetime though. We never starred at her or anything when we walked by her home, but we hurriedly walked by, and I believe our little minds could not comprehend a person having to live her life in a wheelchair.

This is a fantastic idea for a hub and I really enjoyed reading.

Good job!

Geri McClymont on December 30, 2015:

Great article. I think sometimes we are afraid to tap into our past but even the painful memories can inspire the best writing if we have the courage to go there. This was a great read and thanks for sharing.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on October 23, 2015:

MsDora - I see you got what I was intending to accomplish by writing about it. Thanks for that review of my hub. You should write about your own experience you had when you brought your daughter with you. I'm sure that sharing the visit with your daughter brought more meaning to the experience than just going alone as I had done. In my case, I just had my own thoughts in my head to remember my past. I can imagine the power of having another pair of eyes, and having them ask questions about things along the way.

Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on October 23, 2015:

Glen, I enjoyed the walk with you through your old neighborhood. I did something similar with my daughter when she visited, but I never even thought to write about it on HubPages. I like your commendation for your parents about the choices they made also the lessons you learned now that eluded the childlike mind. Great presentation!

Venkatachari M from Bangalore, India on October 22, 2015:

Very interesting hub. I had a visit to my childhood home, school and lanes in the year 2009 after a gap of 39 years. The lanes were the same, even the buildings changed and people changed. The school that I studied in early 1960s changed into a modernised building even the boundary walls were the same to the side of railway track from where we used to climb up the walls and pick fruits from their gardens. It was a great refreshment of old memories.

Thanks for sharing your hub and freshening the thoughts of my walk in 2009.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on October 22, 2015:

B. Leekley - I actually use Google Street View many times when I want to check out a location before going to an unknown place. It works basically the same a Google Earth.

I have to say that I don't think one would get the same benefits as I had experienced. The whole idea of having old memories come out of one's subconscious would not happen when doing the walk virtually.

When I actually walked the streets and passed the houses of old friends, I was able to have the reality of touch and feel that you just would not get virtually. Plus, I had my camera with me and was able to take pictures that I used in this hub.

Interesting thought though. But like you said, you wouldn't get the exercise either.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on October 22, 2015:

denise.w.anderson - That's great that you got to visit with long lost friends when you revisited your old neighborhood. None of my childhood friends live where we grew up. Everyone moved all over the country. I only stayed in touch with a couple of old friends.

Brian Leekley from Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA on October 22, 2015:

I wonder if a virtual hike using Google Earth would have similar benefits, aside from not getting the exercise.

Audrey Howitt from California on October 22, 2015:

I loved this--we grew up in a neighborhood in which we knew all of our neighbors. And we live in that kind of neighborhood now--

Tim Mitchell from Escondido, CA on October 22, 2015:

Thank you for sharing life discoveries with your walk. I enjoyed being along with you while I smiled realizing the truths you shared. I will be pondering those those more with my memories of a similar path walked, even though a different neighborhood.

Denise W Anderson from Bismarck, North Dakota on October 22, 2015:

Taking a trip into nostalgia lodges the memory banks of our brain and helps us work through some of the emotions that get stuck and stagnant. One time, I drove back to my childhood home and visited with long lost friends and relatives. It gave me some perspective on the difficulties my family went through when we left the area, and enabled me to get in touch with my roots again. It resolved a lot of issues for me.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on October 21, 2015:

Jodah - Your comment was very interesting to read. I'm glad to see someone else had the same idea. Sounds like your childhood homes went through more changes than usual. In your case, however, those changes are much more meaningful. It tells a story about how things can have enormous change throughout time.

John Hansen from Australia (Gondwana Land) on October 21, 2015:

I loved this article Glenn. I had the same idea a few years back. I revisted three places where I used to live as a child. We moved around a lot with my dad's job. Two of the homes I lived in were in country towns and had been transformed, one into an artsy crafty store and the other a restaurant. I did walk from one of them along the path to my old school, and from the other to a rain forrest park close by where we kids used to play. The other house was in a different state and a large city. I found the school I attended, but try as I might I could not find my way to the house I lived in and could not remember the address. I was only seven or eight at the time and 50 year old memories wouldn't help on that one. There is a great message in this hub and we all need to take note and reflect how we have lived our lives.

McKenna Meyers on October 21, 2015:

I see a movement in many parts of the country to return to neighborhood schools. That way every child can make the healthy choice to walk or ride her bike to school. There are studies coming out showing students who walk to school are more mentally prepared to learn -- makes sense! Love the hub, Glenn, and love that old childhood home, too!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on October 21, 2015:

mactavers - A guided tour of your school! What a wonderful experience. I would love to get to see the inside and walk the halls where I once passed through going from one classroom to another. You gave me an idea, I should check to see if mine will have a 50th reunion with a tour. For me, that's coming up in three more years.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on October 21, 2015:

Reynold Jay - That's the reality of our time, that some neighborhoods that were once great are in decline now. Sorry to hear that that happened to the place where you grew up. But I'm glad you enjoyed this hub.

mactavers on October 21, 2015:

I loved your Hub. Last year was my 50th high school reunion and we had a guided tour led by honor students. While many buildings had changed, some didn't and I had fun remembering teachers and friends that I thought I had forgotten.

Reynold Jay from Saginaw, Michigan on October 21, 2015:

IT's a great idea; however it will not work for me as that neighborhood is a crime zone.

Years ago (65) was a different time and place. Well done piece of writing that I died so very much enjoy. Keep these gems coming.