Revisiting My Past Life Essays

Revisiting My Past Life Essays Revisiting My Past Life Essay Revisiting My Past Life Essay Essay Topic: The Visit Back then, it was a military town that focused primarily on the base. At the tender age of 18, I was plucked from my life in the suburb of Lincoln Park, Mi. And taken to this small town, not knowing anyone, this was a traumatic experience for me. Though, I was happy to be married to the person I loved, I was not happy about leaving my family and friends behind. When I arrived in Soda, it was worse than I expected. There was nothing up there, not for me anyway. Remember, I was only 18 and used to life in the big city. There was no department store, no mall, no big movie theater, what was I to do? Sure, it was beautiful and peaceful and serene, but I was 18, I did not care about that. If I wanted so much as a whopper, the nearest Burger King was 50 miles away in Alpine! I relied primarily on my husband to keep me occupied and entertained because I knew no one. I envied him because he had the opportunity to go to work and interact with people on a daily basis. In the meantime, I was stuck in this little cottage on the shores of Lake Huron all day, with no one to talk to. I would call my mother and grandmother every day and talk for hours. Soon, I became friends with some of the other military wives, which in itself, is a very tight knit relationship. It was more than friendship, it was like family. We took care of each other and were each others support group. The very kind of friendship that I wish I had today. My husband and I lived in a very tiny cottage on US 23, on the shores of Lake Huron. Very quiet, and peaceful and beautiful. I wouldnt say I hated it, but I would much rather have been in Lincoln Park. The cottage was very quaint and cute. Its walls were made of knotty pine, which was typical of all the houses up there. It had two small bedrooms, a bath with a shower stall, no bathtub, a tiny kitchen and a small living room. A hunters paradise. I brought my first born home to this cottage in 1985, which was very challenging because I knew nothing about motherhood at that tender age. My mother came up for a week to help. When she left, I had to figure things out on my own. I was now a woman and had grown up, although, I still longed for home. The time came in 1986, my now ex-husband was discharged from the Air Force and I was boring town. Happiness, Rejoice! I did not realize at that time, I was leaving what I always wanted behind. Things were more simple up there and I Just did not see it then. My husband and I were never as close as we were when we lived there. We ere forced to deal with problems we faced because all we had were each other. Our marriage fell apart in 1999 and I had not been to Soda since our divorce. I decided to go up there for the first time in 27 years. Things have changed since then, the base has closed down and is now home to the former race car driver Connie Galatia, he houses his planes on base. They have also sold the base housing to families. They have a Burger King now and a Smart and a few other businesses that were not there then. I was haunted by my memories. Everywhere I went, I could picture myself being 27 years earlier. It was like I was standing beside myself in a efferent time and I almost wanted to reach out to my former self and say see, all this time you wanted to get away and this is exactly where you wanted to be the whole time I actually was able to stay in the very same cottage I had lived in when I was 18, the lady was renting it out. This time I had a very different perspective of my cottage. I noticed things that I did not notice before. As soon as I walked in the door of my former home, all these memories came rushing towards me, overwhelming me. Oh, how I have missed this place and longed to be part of it again. It was almost as if it had been waiting for me all these years. I stood there for which seemed like an eternity, taking in every detail I could of my old life. I sat down on the couch for literally a few hours taking in the sounds of the waves from Lake Huron crashing against the shore. The cool breeze blowing in through the open windows. Taking in the smell of the nice clean, crisp, air. I stood up and started walking from room to room, gliding my hands along the walls, remembering every single memory each room had to offer. I could actually hear the voices and laughter of my ex-husband and me. I could see us walking in the front door with our newborn baby girl and asking her in the room a placing her in the crib. It was like a movie where the person has died and can see everything happening around them, haunting, really. The old expression you never really know what you have until its gone never rang more true. I did not want to go to sleep, I Just wanted to enjoy all the time I could there, not wanting it to end. I was frozen in time and wanted to stay that way. But of course, two days later, it was time for me to come back to reality. I wrote a little note to myself and hid it in the cabin as I intend to visit it once again. Soda will always be forever frozen in time for me. My forever home.