He was shocked when he saw what the area looks like today.
No stores along what used to be a busy shopping street. No drug store, no record store, no movie theater, no hair salon, no deli.
These favorite places from his past had been completely demolished.
Reconstructing the past
Seeing the dramatic changes to that street caused him to reach back into his memory bank and mentally reconstruct the line of stores that once stood there.
In his mind's eye, he could see the entire block and tell me exactly what was gone. He remembered funny stories from his first after-school job at the drug store. He recalled buying albums at the record store, snacking at the deli, taking dates to the movies. He even summoned up the names of friends who worked at some of these businesses.
He told me new stories as he mentally took a nostalgic and emotional walk down memory lane, one favorite place at a time.
Trying to spark memories
I haven't been quite as surprised using "Street View" to look at old neighborhoods in my hometown of New York City, maybe because it's the city that never sleeps.
Still, I'm going to try exploring other favorite places from my childhood to see whether the changes spark new memories that I can discuss with relatives. What's NOT in the picture might stimulate fresh thinking about the past.
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"Favorite place" is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.
