I'm a Time Traveler

I traveled through time today.

I lived in Commerce, GA for most of my childhood. My family packed up and moved to Gastonia, NC in 2006, and I did not step foot in Georgia for another eight years.

Today, I rode through my childhood town and neighborhood. Memories flashed through my mind, disabling my perception of the present. 

The differences between then and now confused my awareness.

Houses that stood on the corners of streets were suddenly missing. The woods, where I had spent many hours per day playing imaginary games with my brother and other friends, looked barren.

The car approached my old home, and it looked similar, but different.

Returned to my childhood home in Commerce, GA today. Haven't been there in 8 years. #nostalgia pic.twitter.com/6AGRwqMJjA
— Aaron Cranford (@akcranford) March 8, 2014

As I walked up the driveway, I noticed the abnormally bent-shaped tree was still hanging over part of the driveway. That made me giddy with boyhood excitement for some reason. I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, hoping someone would answer.

Selma Neel walked up with me, and when no one greeted us, she asked me about the door.

“This was your front door?”

“It is still the same color,” I said.

The red door had paint chipping off showing multiple layers beneath the threshold. Each layer was red. It must have been painted over at least once in the last eight years, and knowing that the homeowners decided to leave it the same color consoled my fluctuating emotions.

I rang the doorbell again, but no one came. 

I walked up the driveway, wanting to see the inside of the house, wanting to see my old room. But I surprisingly felt happy that no one came to the diminishingly red door.

Follow me @akcranfo

Reminiscing, I stood there. I looked through the windows and saw foreign furniture. Nothing looked as it once was. Eventually, the objects in the present vanished and my memories replaced them.

I pictured my younger self playing with Nathan Cranford, my brother. I turned my gaze to the other window that allowed me to peer into the living room and I saw Chocolate, our old dog, as a puppy. I felt emotional, and I decided it was time to go. 

I turned and walked back down the driveway, taking one last look down the stone-brick path placed along the side of the house. A wheelbarrow was filled in the backyard – someone was gardening recently. 

The wheelbarrow made me think of the changes to the yard, the house, the neighborhood and the town as a whole. Everything was a little different, but everything was exactly how I remembered it too. 

I probably will not be back to Commerce, GA ever again, but my memories are better than returning.