Revisiting My Childhood : A Weekender Back East
By wchung | 22 Feb, 2025

The Bittersweet Return To Where I Grew Up

I’m sitting here in the basement of my childhood at the precipice of nostalgia. It’s not exactly the basement of the house I grew up in but it’s close enough. I have spent many an hour idling away my time in this very basement. We used to play fight, rollerblade and do all sorts of shenanigans down here. It’s the basement of my aunt and uncle’s house, tucked serenely away in the rich little town of Westport, CT.

It’s completely quiet here. The streets are dark and the silence almost overwhelming, apart from the steady drone of the chorus of cicadas firmly attached to the trees. It’s not the quietness of nature that I’m talking about. It’s the silence of civilization. I grew up here but I’ve already forgotten so much. This is nothing like Los Angeles. At this time in LA, there would at least be music thumping noticeably in the distance, complimented by the erratic disturbances of cars passing by on the nearby freeway.

Back to this basement. It used to be unfurnished. It used to be cold, concrete and ugly. It used to be where the adults would usher the children in an attempt to keep us out of mind and out of sight. In the seven years or so since I’ve been gone, the place has underwent a complete transformation. I’m sitting in a living room area, fully furnished with soft couches, flat screen television, sound system and hardwood floors. There’s a kitchen area complete with cabinetry, a full bathroom and two spacious bedrooms. What once was a place completely uncomfortable and lifeless is now a place I would rent out for no less than $1600.00 a month.

I’m not sure what this coming weekend back in Connecticut will hold. Just as this basement has been made completely new, I still find a familiarity to it. I can see a whisper of what once was. I know I’m the same way. I’m a completely different person from who I was in high school. My physical features, my mannerisms, my confidence level and much more but in the midst of these old relationships, I still find a familiarity and I hope that I’ll be able to capitalize on the time I have spent with my old family and friends here in gloomy, wet but still vibrant Connecticut. One thing’s for sure; I don’t miss this weather. Not in the very least.