Today is Thursday, 14 August...was in Richmond, VA from the night of 30 July until today when I took Amtrak to Alexandria, VA. Time to catch up my blogging :-)
The past fourteen days have been a mix of en-joying my holiday and interviewing attorneys to deal with an un-expected legal matter back home (which presented itself when I arrived in Richmond). Not quite the holiday I envisioned. AND gotta deal with whatever Life presents :-)
Much appreciation for my friend in Richmond, whose home I stayed in for the past fourteen days. Grateful for the wonderful hospitality and peaceful home she provided. I am super blessed with the people in my life!! Thank You Source!!!!!
Visiting my hometown after 11 years....interesting to see what came up for me! See if there are any un-healed things. For the most part...no.
There were misty eyes when I visited the cemetary where my folks, my father's parents, and my oldest brother are buried. And that is normal for it's been 11 years since my last visit there. I had silent conversations with them as I pulled grass away from each grave marker. And placed flowers at the headstone. Much appreciation for the Woo sisters who helped me find flowers for the gravesite and drove me to the cemetary.
I recalled my mother telling me that others in the Chinese community moved their burial sites near my parents when they buried my oldest brother here in 1967 and moved my grandparents to this largest plot. My grandfather"s two brothers are buried near our family plot--one directly to the right behind our plot and the other--two plots to the left. The one to the right I never met for he had passed before I was born. His wife (my great-aunt) was a good friend of my mother's and I recall with fondness when my mother would visit her with me along for the ride. They spoke in Cantonese and I did not understand them. My mother would tell me later that they spoke of marrying me off to a Chinese laundryman. "Not" I would say to her!
Was great to see old friends I had not seen for over 10 years. To catch up on our lives. To hear where each of us is now. Yup, blessed with people in my life!! We may have changed on the outside, inside we are still good-hearted! And full of life's ups and downs experiences!
And fun to walk down streets I walked when I was a teenager...working at my parents' laundry (308 N. Adams Street) on the weekends and summers. Happy to have an afternoon off from work to walk the many blocks to downtown to Thalhimers or Miller & Rhoads to shop. And bring back deviled crabs from either department stores' deli area. Was fun to see some of the old buildings still there, albeit re-purposed or empty.
Like Tarrant Drugstore--two blocks from the laundry--where I walked to buy limeades from the very small soda fountain. Today it is a restaurant with the same name! So I stopped in to have a drink while I waited for my ride. Lo and behold it was Happy Hour! Thank You Happy Hour Gods! Y'all definitely look out for this Queen of Happy Hours :-) 3$ for a glass of cava!
Or the Syndor Hundley building--a furniture store when I was growing up--now a residential building.
State Capital building still looks the same! And am reminded--I went to high school and was friends with the Governor's daughter--Tayloe! Has me curious--how is everyone today? My lunch-mates and class-mates Tayloe and Judy. My tell-it-like-it-is friend Deborah. My classmates: Garnett, Bobby, Andrew, Gary
I walked down Grace Street. WOW...the natural food store appears to still be here although it was closed. And when I looked through the window, it looked abandoned. Oh well!
A former movie theater now a performing arts venue.
Cokesbury bookstore--the signage still remains yet it is empty. I loved wandering around this store as a teenager!
WOW...Perly's deli is still there!
And these stores not there...just the signage. Love the older architecture!
And when I saw this tall building, I recall the bank where my mother took me to open my passbook savings account. You know...each time I brought my passbook (about the size of a passport), the teller would enter in the deposit and interest accumulated to-date. Am I dating myself or what? Yup...at an early age I was saving. Thanks to the excellent model of my parents!
Ahhhh.,.the main public library where I went to get books as a child! I want to find the news photo of me taken in the children's section, as one of two top readers of books for the summer :-)
And the post office I often walked to from the laundry. It was one block past Tarrant's drugstore.
Then there is 308 N. Adams where my parents had their laundry. The address is behind the tree in this photo.
And now there is a paved parking lot from the alley out to Broad Street--where before was a building to Broad Street and a gravel lot to the alley The gravel lot is where we parked our cars. And the cobblestone alley that led up to the lot. The worn wooden slat door that led from the laundry to the alley has been replaced with this solid wooden door. Boy were those cobblestones hard to walk and drive on!
It is also fun to go down the food memory lane! Soft Shell Crab--what a yummy memory and I am visiting when this treat is in season!
This was done Greek style with feta, olives, and tomatoes hiding that yummy soft shell crab!
This one was a sandwich! I chowed down on the delicious soft shell crab! And left the bread behind!
Unfortunately, Bill's Barbeque closed down last year I am told. And New York Deli is no longer a working deli--it's a restaurant! The Sailor Sandwich I grew up with as a takeout treat is still offered on the restaurant menu! Still tasty! And yes...I lingered long enough to eat the whole thing!
Yup..a lot has changed in my eatting choices in the past 40 years :-)
Anywho...Old Town Alexandria--what awaits me! Seeing three old friends here as well! Onward ho!!!
