Memories Without Photographs

I am posting from a Starbucks at Bethany Drive and North Central Expressway in Allen, Texas. For 11 years I drove past this particular corner on my way to work, church or whatever other activities might have been part of my day.

Back then, there was no Starbucks here. The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's now on the west side of the highway fill a spot that, back then, was just trees and grass.

The house we lived in from 1992 through 2002 is missing the lone maple tree we had nursed from a two foot scraggly combination of miniature limbs and leaves in to a climbing tower for our kids. That one tree is gone now, the victim of a different landscaping vision by the home's current owners.

When we moved to Allen in 1992, it was the strip of highway between Plano and McKinney, just north of Dallas. The population then, to the best of my recollection, was around 16,000...now it exceeds 70,000. The high school had a football team struggling to succeed at a more competitive level. Now, that same high school is in a new building and the football team has an indoor practice facility. In 1992, Allen was essentially on one side of the highway. Now, it sprawls as far as I can see. We moved to a town with a Wal-Mart, two grocery stores, and a few other conveniences. Back then, if you wanted access to "shopping" you were going someplace else. Now, shopping centers are all over, with an outlet center, the aforementioned Cheesecake Factory, Home Depot and likely most any other retail outlet desired.

Remember Barney, the purple dinosaur? The production company for Barney was located in Allen.

Our daughters were born while we lived in Allen. We brought both home from the hospital (three years apart) in McKinney, walked them up the sidewalk past the now absent maple tree and in to our lives. We had a white boxer named Cooney, a roof in need of repair (a really strange set of circumstances took care of the roof's replacement), a parquet entry floor that I finished installing just before our dog peed all over it. Cathy went from hospital nurse to stay-at-home mom while we lived in Allen. I went from assistant commissioner, to associate commissioner, to commissioner of the Southland Conference while we lived in Allen. We went from Cathy and Greg to Mom and Dad.

We made friends while we lived here. Our friends had kids. Our friends kids became our kids friends. Yesterday, we were all trying to figure out if the car seat was safe, were Huggies better than Pampers, and was it necessary to enroll them in preschool. Now, we are all trying to figure out what car is safe for them to drive, we debate the merits of Facebook versus MySpace, and we discuss college entrance exams, admissions requirements and exorbitant tuition.

In 1999, I saw at least one round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Reunion Arena while cheering for the eventual champion Dallas Stars. Now, Reunion Arena is gone. And, believe it or not, there is a hockey arena in Allen, which houses a professional hockey team.

As I type, I've watched the mother of a soccer player grab her coffee and go. She didn't recognize me, but that mom's daughter was a player on a team of four-year-old girls I coached starting in 1999. I learned many lessons while coaching a soccer team comprised of four-year-old girls--the first lesson I learned was that no matter how well your team of four-year-olds practice, they forget everything when the grandparents show up at the game.

A year ago, there were two marathons I absolutely had to run. The Mercedes Marathon, held in our current home of Birmingham, Alabama. And the White Rock Marathon, held in our former home of Dallas, Texas.

You have no idea how glad I am to be running in Dallas this weekend.

No idea.