The House on The Hill

It still lingers in my memory. The house at the top on Garrick Street. I recall so many Christmas', family memories and dinner at that house. It once belonged to my grandparents. Elbert and Barbara Wright.

It was corner house with a sweeping driveway, and front yard. I remember my sister slipping on the wet grass while we were playing baseball. Scars that are light but still existent after she gets the right amount of sun. Hours spent setting up Halloween decorations. The front door was under an overhang, which a rock planter on the left, and a metal swinging rocking chair on the right. The glass of the front door was yellow, and looked like the bottom of coke bottles. The entry hall was less than lavish. An old black stove and a ficus plant with a golf ball at the bottom of it were about all there was.

From the entry you had a choice of three directions to go. Left and directly into the living room. Up the stairs, or down the hall way. The living room had some of the ugliest carpet known to man. It was a large room though. With a chair, couch and love seat. Plenty of room for everyone. There was a fire place and I can see the Christmas tree in the window lit up in the window. The ceiling was covered in popcorn and more gold sparkle than the night sky has stars.

Down the hall you had the den to the left, where I played countless hours of Where In The World is Carmen San Diego. The bathroom right next to it, and finally to the right, you had the kitchen and dining room. We used to sit around that dinner table long as a family. Tell jokes, laugh and smile. The bar was where I would spend the last hours I was able to stay awake on my mom or dad's lap. That bar would be lined with cherry 7up on new years eve for all of us kids.

The backyard always seemed well manicured. The view at night was magnificent. Fourth of July's as we illegal set off fireworks in the back yard, you could see all the lights of the valley. The fireworks in downtown. We would run upstairs and out on the balcony and light sparklers. I reminisce about that house every time I think about home. It was a perfect house. From living in it when I was real young, to biking up Roxford past the hospital, up all the hills to visit Grandma and Grandpa as a teenager.

Someday, that house will be mine.