The geezerette and I drove to Sioux Falls Sunday for the wake of long time friend, Tom. After the wake was over we decided to cruise town a bit. We drove around Augustana College, my Alma mater and where we met. We also drove by the house at 817 Roberts Dr. where we lived from '75 until '80.
In the process I was aware of a strong mixture of nostalgia and melancholy. This time I think I figured out the source of, at least some, of the melancholy. On the way to our old house we passed the house where Oliver and Ida Bergland lived. A young man was sitting by the driveway and I thought, "You should know about Ida and Oliver and furthermore you should know me because I knew them and I've been in that house many times."
That's when it struck me; the melancholy comes because I remember the place but the place doesn't remember me. My relationship to the place means nothing to those who are there now. That feels like loss to me and thus it is a melancholy experience.
1 comment:
Don't underestimate the meaning to those who live there now. I crave stories from those who either lived at our house or knew people at our house in Ulen. It beats hearing it from the ghosts that live there.
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