75 Prospect Street

Memories Forgotten:
75 Prospect Street

Sooner or later everyone must face their fears.   For years, I've dread going back to the home where I grew up on 75 Prospect Street in Winsted, Ct.  I don't really know why I had fear.  It became a symbol of a place I have wanted to forget.


My family faced many hardships in that house.  The constant financial stress and worry overcame my father. I watched him endure the anxiety of a nervous breakdown.  My mother picked up the slack even with one daughter in college, one in high school, and me in elementary school.  She kept it all together by toiling in a factory. Eventually her husband recovered and he always cherished her.


The thoughts of being without motivated me back then but now the same thoughts plague me.   What will happen if I don't pull out of this economic downturn?  What if I lose everything I have struggled to obtain? Those thoughts put me back on 75 Prospect Street and make me feel with the anxiety of a ten year old boy. What is going to happen to us?


As I look back at Mom and Dad, they persevered and did not let go of their dreams.   It was not easy but each time they fell down, somehow they had the courage to pick themselves back up again.  Life was not easy back on 75 Prospect Street, but there were some valuable lessons I learned.  Things get tough and rough but we have what it takes to persevere. My parents did it and set the bar higher.  They did it without the benefits of an education and full English speaking language skills.  I can do it.  I am made up of the same stuff.


One summer, I left 75 Prospect Street hopped on a bus and headed to Michigan to check out a college.   I didn't look back;  I only thought about my dreams that lied ahead.   My destination and dream was all that mattered to me.  I need to remind myself; its the dream destination that matters everything else is simply stops along the way.  I need to not lose hope and think about my final destination.  I came from 75 Prospect Street a house with a view of the Mad River and no future.  I've not yet lost sight of my final destination.   Good times, I reckon are still in front of me.