Miranda Lambert sings about her childhood home in her Grammy winning single, “The House That Built Me.” The song has inspired many to knock on the front door of their childhood home in the hope of experiencing the kind of evangelical moment that Miranda hopes she’ll have if she can step inside that old house and “take nothing but a memory.”
I did that years ago and found the experience to be less than divine. The House That Built Me, a Dutch Colonial built in 1922 on a postage stamp lot at the entrance to a public park in Baldwin, Long Island (New York) had been totally redone. So much so, that I didn't recognize much of the interior. You can't go home again, son.
When I was a kid my first cousin, who was twenty four years older than me, drove a light blue, 1957 Chevrolet. My mother didn't drive and hated taking the bus so she had my cousin taxi her around all over town. That meant I saw a lot of my cousin and her '57 Chevy. My brother and I would stumble into the back pushing the front seat forward and "complain" about how hard it was to get back there. I loved that. I thought it added to the excitement and specialness of the car. Sure beat Dad's Rambler.
In. the "House that Built Me", Miranda Lambert's is not singing about loving The House so much as she loves the memories it holds for her.
I don't want a 1957 Chevrolet. Tailfins are not my cup of coffee. I am reminded of my cousin every time I see one though and I go back. I wouldn't mind taking a ride in one and take nothing more than a memory. Tail fins and all.
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