If the path had been different, if their heart had not called them back to the Midwest, home would have been Santa Cruz, California. Mom and Dad started their lives here, built a home, had a baby, made memories.
If life's path had been different, I'd have traveled East Cliff Drive to go to work...
I'd have taken West Cliff drive to where it ends at Natural Bridge Beach a million times.
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...and my children would have memories of The Mystery Spot instead of Devil's Den.
The Boardwalk would have been their favorite place to go...
...and Breakwater Lighthouse on East Cliff Drive could have been the place where I met my true love.
But life's path took a turn, instead of Monterey Bay my parents chose to be close to family and moved back to the Ozarks. They sold the house that Mom calls the bungalow, the one with the white Priscilla curtains and the cheery little front porch and headed east to Arkansas.
Funny how life's path sometimes leads you back, not to the same spots but often with the same reasons. A job took us back to Northern California when we first married and Mom and Dad returned for a visit. Once more to see that little house at 46 Alameda.
Wow...great blog today. Took my mind back to 20 yrs ago when we took Hwy 1 up the coast to Monterey--stunning views of the Pacific, then across to Sequoia to see the giant redwoods.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered what my life would have been like if my parents had stayed in California. We had family there and family in the Midwest. The family in the Midwest just happened to be Grandparents and they won out!
DeleteI think they made a great choice! Would you believe I have been to the Redwood National Forest....and seen that great tree.
ReplyDeleteMom and Dad moved out to Richmond during the war where Dad worked in the shipyards. They moved back 'home' after the war too. Home was Nixa, Missouri.
Great post.
Isn't it funny how we all cross paths, yet we've never met! My parents started their married life in Santa Cruz, then moved back to Arkansas and then Springfield, Mo. where I was born. Years later after I married, my husband joined the Air Force and we ended up in Sacramento, CA. and Mom and Dad came back to visit once more!
DeleteLife is so full of forks in the road, and I wonder sometimes about all the different paths my parents have chosen and where would I be now if they had done this or that. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Santa Cruz, it's on my Bucket List!
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