My old house

I realised I had several pictures of the same place taken on different times. See how much has changed. For you it is just a house. For me it is special because half of the story of my life took place in this house in Wijchen in the Netherlands

1950/ My brother found this picture on the net. A house in the center of Wijchen, On the right you could buy cigars, on the left was a candy shop. My grandfather rented half of the building at the end of the fifties to sell textile. Before that he went from farm to farm to sell clothes. Begin sixties my father took over and he bought that part of the house. The shop expanded, the other side got added and my dad made several alterations over the years and sold women's clothing.

This is the same building on the left in the sixties.

1985  The shop about 20 years later. You can still recognise the roof. I was born in the room on the top right, behind the sign. I grew up here, worked on Saturdays in the clothing shop of my parents. After a year living somewhere else when I was 19, I came back in my twenties and lived here another 8 years above the shop. My parents had moved to a different house.

2009/ This is a photo from last year, when I visited Wijchen. About 2 years ago they broke down the house. On its fundaments they pulled up a new one. You recognise the building next to it. Although it feels strange that such a familiar place has disappeared, the ghosts of the past are still around. When seeing this street lots of scenes play on the screen of my mind. I tap into a different time.  I feel I can easily pick up from where I left off, but the people who have lived here have mostly disappeared. Like me they moved on to different horizons. The houses and shops changed but it will be forever my street.
Oops I think I am getting old