Living Tigard - Your guide to everything Tigard

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 and the Friendly Home Team
Knipe Realty
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)746-9573

 

 

 

 

 I am a licensed Realtor who specializes in Washington County, Oregon and also work in both Clackamas and Multnomah Counties including the cities of Aloha, Beaverton, Canby, Clackamas, Gladstone, Gresham, Happy Valley, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sherwood and Tigard. All information contained in these posts are copyrighted and cannot be used without prior written approval authorization from the author me Todd Clark. If you are looking for an outstanding agent please give me a call I would love to help you with all your real estate needs.

 

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