Traveling to the Past - Going Home

After Patrick passed I decided to travel up to Susanville to see my mom. For various reasons I put it off for months - probably the primary reason had to do with all the memories associated with Susanville.  I grew up there, moving from the Bay Area when I was about 3 years old. So many memories, my grandparents lived about a mile from my home growing up and I spent many an afternoon walking to their house and spending time with my grandmother, she always had time for all of us. I met Patrick in Susanville - love at first sight. I was about 15 (almost the same age as my grandson, Anthony), Patrick was 18. Our first apartment was in Susanville.

I mentioned my interest in travelling to Susanville to my grandsons back in November and immediately Anthony said - I'll go with you. So, my travelling companion and I headed out this past weekend for my hometown. Anthony was good company and I think he made the trip so much easier for me. I felt very nostalgic throughout the trip and he seemed to enjoy the stories of his grandfather and I in our early years.

Anthony is incredibly musical - he brought his guitar and played various riffs of different songs, I loved it and his grandfather would've loved it. 

There is that saying "you can't go back." - I think it's true to some degree, the town has changed, I've changed and the time is different. People I loved so much are gone; my husband, my father and my grandparents. But there is comfort that some things remain, I saw my mom and brother, the house I grew up in, my grandparents home and my first apartment with Patrick. 

LHS

It's a bit of a reminder that life is temporary. I wish I always had recognized how great things were when I was young, in that moment, but that's a life lesson you learn after a bit of living. I had quite a lot of freedom as a child, we were allowed to walk around the town with very little concern for safety, in a time with no cell phones. Everyone knew everyone in the town, so you really couldn't get away with much, but I really wasn't trying to.

I visited the graves of my father, grandparents and gt. grandmother - my family goes back to the 1940s in Susanville. I showed Anthony the schools I attended; Lassen High School and Diamond View Middle School. Anthony thought Lassen High School was cool and he is ready to bring his band to LHS and perform on the quad - I'm sure the teenage girls would love him:). 

Ah, to live it all again... 

The backroom at Margie's Book Nook

Anthony says this picture will be worth a million bucks one day!

Great Grandmother, Erma Sanford Johnson

Father, Robert Neil Johnson

Grandparents, Cy and Virginia (Bullard) Johnson