A walk down Memory Lane

For more than 40 years I have lived next door to the Drive – Commercial Drive, that is. Twice I moved to other areas of Vancouver. I was miserable. I moved back. I came back because a lot of my good memories are connected to this area. I firmly believe that good memories, in one's later life, are better than money in the bank.

Looking back over 40 years, I see some differences on the Drive: a few shops gone, others opened up, some buildings demolished, others built. One building in particular I remember, off the Drive on the corner of Broadway and Victoria just where the Grandview Highway makes a triangle. A lovely, stately mansion occupied this spot for many years. I made a point of walking past this corner whenever I went for a walk. The front yard had many flowerbeds, bushes and ornamental trees. I remember a rowan tree with its shiny leaves and bright red berries. The backyard had many fruit trees.

Time passed, the old folks who owned the house died and it was demolished. In its place was built a modern cement structure which housed a restaurant. The first operator was White Spot; after that, for a while, it was a Hungarian Goulash House and eventually a Chinese restaurant. Time passed and this structure was demolished and in its place was erected a Buddhist Temple. Through all these upheavals the lovely rowan tree was spared, though it didn't look so lovely anymore. Deprived of the shelter of the other trees and shrubs, it got the full blast of the traffic fumes and dust from the busy street. With the arrival of the temple the rowan tree went. There is nothing left of that beautiful garden, but I still have my memories of it firmly implanted in my memory bank.

I had an extremely busy day last week. In the space of three hours I had to change my library books, go for my bi-weekly swim, have a tooth replaced in my dentures, visit the podiatrist, stand in line at the bank to pay my bills and meet my friends for lunch. All this I accomplished in the 12 blocks of Commercial Drive in the allotted time span. Of course, I had to dodge and hop around the other people on the Drive while I accomplished these chores.