Homes and houses

Elizabeth Renzetti, Globe and Mail columnist and someone I could write the ass off ('cept she gets paid and I don't), wrote a pretty good piece about houses.  We are our homes and houses.  When I think about where I have lived since birth, I re-live my experiences from each abode.  Here they are:

Lindenlea

I was born into a modest house in Lindenlea, the first "designed" neighbourhood in Canada.  Idyllic, it was a quaint series of streets, lanes and commons, all of which led to a big playground.  The playground turned into a skating rink in the winter.  Carnivals were the norm.  I loved the place.

When I was 13, we moved down the street to a bigger house.  My parents paid $18,000 for it, worth about $500,000 now.  When I went into high school, all the "rich" kids from Rockcliffe became my classmates, many still my friends to this day. 

Toronto

Got married there, worked for big companies such as IBM, DuPont and Maclean-Hunter.  Mad Men?  That was my life.  Everyone smoked and drank all the time all day long.  Crazy!!  Everyone also had affairs with everyone else.  It was so much fun.  Our house was in "The Annex", where you could not today buy anything under a million.  We paid $45,000 for our house back in '70.  I wept when I drove by it last summer, the memories were so poignant. 

Ottawa

Ended up back in Ottawa, divorce being the reason.  Moved with two toddlers back into Lindenlea -- where else?  My kids played in the same playground I did.  With my parents down the street, it was perfect.  Then I met my current husband.

Bruyere

He was fighting for custody of his two kids (which he subsequently won)  and I had my two.  So I raised four kids.  What a great place Bruyere was.  Bunk beds.  Dinner parties.  Neighbourhood kids.  Fun.  That's what I remember.

Crichton 

We moved to Crichton Street because B wanted to make it easier for his kids to visit their mother down the same street.  I hated it because we were too close, but we had a lovely home and a huge backyard.  That's where I fell in love with my clothes line. 

Ahearn

We moved to the west end of Ottawa into a big house, suited to our family of six.  Then we got a dog.  Charlie was the best dog ever.  A Bouvier-cross, he was gorgeous.  We decked in the entire backyard, leaving a hole for a huge maple tree, and I loved it.  We had a pond with a gurgling frog fountain, tons of potted flowers and of course, my clothes line.  We lived there for 16 years. 

Poulin 

We sold Ahearn and moved into a high-rise condo.  I thought I was ready to be a senior in a condo.  How wrong I was!  The elevator would open and I would face a bunch of old, fat bags in walkers.  F-ck!  Me, in this place with the walking dead??!!   But we had lovely dinner parties and I loved the big pool in which I swam every day.  The rest of it?  Not so much.

Calgary

So here we are.  I love Calgary!  The average age of a Calgarian is 37.  Can you believe that!?  We live in a perfect townhouse and have our grandson over all the time.  I adore my daughter's husband, her many in-laws and their families.  They have been so generous to us.  Our backyard is a huge field, in which coyotes and rabbits try to out-smart each other.  I swim every day with a great bunch of "girls", all much younger than I, but not better swimmers. 

So, with each phase of my life I have been fortunate to have lived in great places.  Great memories stick with me for each home and house.  Soon we will welcome Hillary, a granddaughter.  Can't wait to meet her!