Good Bones

The winter storm has began to take a hold of the city and its people. I wrapped up some last minute errands yesterday including picking up a prescription  from the pharmacy located near the place I grew up. On my drive home I decide to drive by our now vacant lot on the street I spent my childhood. Nearly 18 years I spent on that block.

The street behind where our house stood was an old 3 story craftsman house that was vacant most all the time. When me and my siblings were pre-teens and young teens, we would go into this house and explore it. It sat on the corner of 13th and Bosque Blvd. It was quite a wonder. It had a laundry shoot that went from the 3rd floor to the 1st. It had wide hallways and tall ceilings. It was just a joy to walk around and look up, down and around this place.

Yesterday I drove by and the house was raised. How sad it made me feel. I didn't get to see the inside just one more time. I had not the chance to gaze upon its majesty not one more time. I asked my sister about this house last night. She said "yes, it has been knocked over for a few months now." She went on to say what we both knew, "I don't think anyone lived in that house over all this time except all told 10 years out of the 40 we even know of." She said, "It had good bones." It had good bones indeed. She said it would have taken 150,000.00 to bring it back to its former luster.