The First Step

The First Step
By John R. Greenwood

Life is a climb. Step by step we rise up from one place to another. It may take a lifetime of steps to realize a dream. This blog is the story of an average man reaching a point in his life where grey hair and bones that make noise are just speed bumps on the road to a fulfilling life. I recently had an opportunity to visit the building that my aunt and uncle used to call their home. When they retired many years ago the small town where I grew up purchased the home and converted the back half into a community center. The front of the home and its rooms have been closed off and used for storage. I had been visiting the town hall next door and I stopped at the community center and asked if I could look through the front half of the house. As I slowly opened a set of doors at the bottom of these stairs I was instantly transported back in time. It had been almost 40 years since I had walked up these steps. The stairway once immaculately maintained was now worn and tired. Knowing what a meticulous housekeeper my aunt had been it broke my heart to see them this way. Even in this condition they possessed a certain regality. Left neglected and sealed off from the world the front of the home emitted a sadness I couldn't shake. Although I am glad to see the home being used to serve the people of the town that surrounds it, I couldn't help but wish better things for it's future. I am hopeful that one day there will be enough funds available for the town to restore the remainder of the home to its original beauty. I envision a mini-museum of a 1950's home, furnished to the time period, complete with vintage photos, music, and wallpaper. 

These stairs are similar to the stairs of my life. Each step has a story. You travel up and down them day after day reliving and reviving events and memories. Each journey up and each journey down creates a life. How we embrace that life is up to the individual. I have chosen to share these steps in stories and photographs. I do it because it satisfies a craving. 

If you ignore those cravings and wait for another day or another opportunity it may never come. My suggestion is to open those doors at the bottom of the stairs and start climbing, you'll never know what's at the top if you don't take the first step.