Tigard
Oregon Real Estate and more: My childhood home and my
request for any future owners of it
by Todd Clark
It was 1970 and my parents were kind enough to bring me home from the hospital, something I’m sure they later may have regretted throughout my childhood, but they survived my teenage years and we still talk everyday. (So I guess all is good.)
I grew up in Tigard, Oregon,
and I presently live less than one mile from my childhood home,
the one I lived
in until I was 7 years old. My parents rented that home until they
bought land
and built a home from the ground up on the top of Bull Mountain, the
home I’m
actually purchasing right now myself. (That is a different story.)
But, my childhood home
and I had a love hate relationship. I loved the home’s
neighbors, but the home had it out for me! At the time, this home had a
white
picket fence that surrounded the property and a barbed wire fence one
foot away
on the left hand side of the property. (You will find out later, why
that is
important.)
It was a small little two
bedroom house, but at the time it seemed large. The
home was built in 1921 and was owned by the neighbors, an older couple.
I don’t
remember her, but I do remember him, because he had a worm farm in the
back
yard and to a six year old boy, that was really cool!
The neighbors Adam and
Steve were my best friends. We were all the same age,
but we spent most of our time at Steve’s house. He lived with his
Grandparents
and owned a 2 acre lot that had so many snakes, that one day we caught
248
snakes. We let them all go later, but it was a fun day for us boys! (I
honestly
don’t know where these two are today, but I would like to find out!)
Now, back to the house…
It had an awesome Cherry tree in the front yard near
the fence that
today is no longer there, who knows why, but it is gone.
This is
where my request to the present home owners comes in. IF YOU FIND MY
T-REX that
I buried in the summer of 1976, can you please call me, I would like it
back
Did I get in trouble
while living there? You bet. One of the things I hated at
the time was that stupid white picket fence. It kept me from going
strait to
Adams house. I had to go around to the side of the house, exit, and
then to
Adams, instead of going straight to his door. Well, in my six year old
mind, I
thought it would be a good idea to kick the fence apart and make a hole
for
myself. This did not go over with my parents or the landlord and I was
stuck on
a very hot summer afternoon repairing the fence with him. I learned a
lot that
day and would never damage someone else’s property again.
The weird part is I
really don’t remember a lot of my childhood, but I can
describe that house in detail and only a few things I did with Adam and
Steve,
but those few things I do remember were fun... except the story of the
barbed
wire fence that I told you about earlier. This story I remember very
clearly
and still have to wear a medical bracelet today because of it. You see
my
friend Adam (remember we were six) thought he could cut through the
barbed wire
fence with his pocket knife. (He was wrong.) I was standing close to 50
feet
away or so I thought. As I drove there yesterday I could see it was
closer to
20 feet, but still far enough, or so I thought. That is when his knife
blade
broke and went flying and hit me in the eye. I can still see perfectly
fine
today with my 20 / 20 vision. In fact, I’m the only one in the family
that
doesn’t wear glasses! But, it still did scar the eye! I have to wear a
medical
bracelet because now my pupil doesn’t dilate in that eye. A little
weird, but a
cool party trick with kids and adults alike.
So, there is
the story of the my childhood home, and seeing it today is kind of cool
and telling my kids about it was even cooler. I hope
my kids have a few good memories from their childhood home to tell
their kids
about as I do. Maybe in 20-30 years someone will ask them the stories
of their
childhood home and we can read about them.
I’m thinking of sending this story to my dad so he can correct me on probably everyone of these stories, because as I have found out on many occasions talking to my dad about my childhood, what I remember and what really happened are two very different stories.
Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
Palazzo Realty Group
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
©2009 Todd Clark - Tigard Oregon Real Estate and more: My childhood home and my request for any future owners of it
