“The sad part of living in the same town so long is you start to resemble your (very dilapidated) neighborhood…”
---Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky Balboa”
Although I wasn’t born there, I have lived in Medford Oregon for 41 years. Statistically I am like 50% of Americans who live fairly close to where they grew up. I’ve often wondered about what it would be like to be like the other half who have lived more transitory lives. I suppose they know something I don’t, but I suspect that goes both ways. I have met many people through the years who have visited my hometown on their vacation and really liked the beauty of the area. I usually take it for granted until I go away for a few weeks and then fly home. When I see the blue mountains and tall trees again I just know I’m home and for some reason I’m strangely enchanted. I honestly can’t say whether Medford is a better or worse place to live than it was growing up. It has improved in many ways with size and worsened in some ways too. And it has certainly changed. If you would have told me when I was a teenager that Medco would be put out of business, that vineyards would be the chief source of agricultural income in the Applegate and the Britt Festival would largely feature nostalgic rock acts, I would have figured you had lost your mind. Time does move on and to quote the Bible, everything has its “time and season”. No matter where you find yourself living today may God give you the ability to see change with both grace and wonder!
I was thinking about the Medford I grew up in and 10 things I miss from the past in no particular order:
1. Jack’s Burger Haus, Dell’s Hamburgers, Stu’s Burger Bar
2. Sister Ray Records and The Tape Shoppe
3. The Starlite Drive-In
4. The smell of Flueher’s Bakery in the afternoon
5. Kim’s Restaurant
6. The Big “Y”
7. Bob Kennedy’s “House of Guns” and all the other cool stuff
8. Trowbridge’s Store
9. KYJC #1 Radio and KSHA with all the cool clocks saying what time it was around
the country.
10. Golf-o-Rama
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1 comment:
As a Medfordite by adoption, I have come to love the valley, and miss when I'm gone, and love it when I'm there, and realize it's benefits and drawbacks. I can imagine that many others have the same feeling about their hometown (adopted or native) and part of that never lets one go. I am here in Portland and I love it, but my roots are not here. Perhaps it is nice to know that no matter how far away you go, there will always be a place called "home."
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