the youth of tonya house tour

 The first house we lived in after coming to Tennesee.

 The house we moved to after the first Tennessee house sold and we had to move.

The first house we lived in after leaving Grandmother & Granddaddy behind when we moved to Celina. There was no bathroom but we did have an outhouse.

The last place we lived in Livingston before we moved to Rickman in the first and only house we lived in that we didn't rent.

Today I took a ride back in time with Sky. I took him to the homes of my youth and showed him the places that belonged to the stories I'd told him as he was growing up. I showed him the spot where I sat all day with my suitcase on the back step waiting on my father that didn't show up until 10 years later. I showed him the garage where I learned to skateboard. I showed him the backyard where I learned to play Red Rover. He got to see the back stoop where Grandmother found Matt the time he sleepwalked outside in the cold and the apartment where I stood in the window to watch the tower lights when I couldn't sleep at night. My youth was not at all idyllic but I've made peace with that and it felt good to show him everything and tell the stories over again with the places where they belonged. It feels somehow symbolic to spend the time leaving these old stories behind on the doorsteps where they happened and to know they never broke me but just made me better in the end. It felt a little magical.