You Can Never Go Home Again

Where we love is home,
Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Homesick in Heaven

This time of year makes me homesick. I don't get homesick for the US particularly, but specifically for 1004 Lakewood Modesto, California 95355. This was our house and our home, for Ron and I from 1993 until we left California in July 2001. The only saving grace other than our friends, was our home. We put a great deal of money and work into it making it ours. We never had any guest who did not comment feeling an immediate positive change once they crossed the threshold.  Even the paperboy said so when he came to collect his weekly dues.


On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Christmas tree would be up and decorated. Yes, artificial. We more than once left the tree up past Easter. When you work all day, how much time do you have to appreciate it? Okay, confession, the secondary reason is that it usually took a three day weekend to box up most, but not all of the Christmas decor. The rest would find its way into boxes over time, but what is the rush?


With nostalgia clawing at my memories, I Googled our address to find our house on the Internet. Was I surprised that our house had been foreclosed on? Not really. Modesto has been declared a disaster area for home mortgages. It was in receivership by the Federal Freddie Mac, but looks like it was sold yet again. The worst thing about looking back is seeing the changes made. They did not even ask us first. Oh, right, they didn't need to. I hate that fence in the yard. THEY added that. We had a cobblestone walkway from the driveway to the entry walkway, which was also cobblestone. It looks like they removed it along with the lion lantern/planter that we had filled with jasmine. What a glorious scent when it was in bloom. Thankfully, I cannot view the back yard. I would probably be sick. Our lot was 1/4 of acre with lots of fruit trees. If you want to take a peek, click here.


We sold at the right time. What it sold for now is not all that much more than what we paid for it. Check this out if you want a reality check of the economy in parts of CA. 


Good-bye Modesto, we cannot go home again...

Modesto Zillow Home Value Index

Modesto Home Values - Interactive chart
 

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