I’ve been away from the damage from the tornado for the past 5 months which in actuality feels like a lifetime.
Even though we are going virtual for at least the first quarter, I’m back in the building to get prepared for our first day of class online.
Before I continue, I need to let you know that I’ve collected multiple ways to get back and forth to work over the past 20 years. Each time I take a different route, it’s almost like I’m taking a trip. Especially when I haven’t driven that way in a while. I’ve got to keep my mind sharp.
One of the first days back to work, I decided I wanted to go down Riverside a road that I have memories dating back 30 years. We would ride the public transportation to that area of town to play Putt-Putt Golf or into downtown Dayton to visit the Arcade. Mind you the Arcade was not a video place but a shopping center. One of the coolest places in the city.
The bus would turn onto Riverside and there were these apartments that fascinated me. I memorized the outside of those buildings because back in the day cameras were film. So instead of taking a photo, I took a mental image. Architecture fascinated me even back then.
On Memorial Day 2019, those apartments were damaged. It looked like a war zone or a bomb went off in that area. The houses were deemed unlivable. Until March, I watched them put up fences with do not disturb signs. The apartments were slowly being taken down because no one could live there anymore. It was no longer safe.
Then last week, I drove past those apartments. It had been months since I had last been past there. I may have driven past there in May on the day I closed up my classroom. But other than that, I had no reason to be there.
Those apartments that had filled my memories of a time long ago were no longer there. The fence they put up is still there. Now all there is a lonely field. What once was a thriving place is no longer.
Who knows, they might build something there. Until then, it’s haunting to see a place ruined by a mighty storm. A sad reminder of how much has changed in the last 15 months between the tornadoes, mass shooting, pandemic, and the protests/ riots.
Vintage Antiques Sold Here – Memorial Day Tornadoes Photos
So Many Stop Signs – The second video features the apartments.
Stay kind!
Believe in the Magic Traci Diary 