On my bike ride today, I visited some of the places that were significant in my life when I lived in Calgary. Quite a lot of them were close together, so it was easy to see them all in one trip.
The first place is my old condo in Anderson Grove (which is in the community of Cederbrae, and breaks the street naming conventions there). I bought it in 1995, and only lived there for about 6 months before moving to the USA. Still, it was the first home I owned so it was nice to see it again.
I then ventured past my high school, now known as Our Lady of the Rockies. It had a different name when I attended, which I won’t say here. I did like high school, unlike some people so seeing it again brought back good memories.
Then I went by 703B, the duplex where I mostly grew up. I did spend some time in other homes before that, but because we moved around a lot with my mom, this was the most stable place I lived in after my brother and I went to live there with my dad.
The last time I saw it a few years ago it was looking pretty dumpy, so I was surprised to see that it had undergone significant renovations, along with a few of the other duplexes in that strip.
A couple of other duplexes in that row hadn’t been renovated but it looks like they’re slated to be replaced with some nicer houses at some point.
Finally, I went by Uncle Frank’s old house. I knew it had been renovated after he sold it, but it was really hard to see it in person looking so different. The structure was the same, but with new siding, windows and landscaping. It had always been a work in progress when Frank lived there so it was hard to believe that it was finally done.
I haven’t lived in Calgary in over thirty years, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see places that I grew up around having changed. Actually, that’s a good thing. Things shouldn’t stay the same, otherwise life wouldn’t be interesting. Today was a good reminder to not look back (too often; sometimes it’s okay once in a while), but keep moving forward.
