A Nostalgic Trip

Written April 1st, 2011

This is a little inspirational story that I’d love to share. My brother Wayne Dyer was recently home for a speaking engagement. When I say home I mean in the Detroit area. While here he happened to have a free day. He asked me to go along with him on a nostalgic trip. We went to both our former Cottage in Sombra, Ontario and to the boarding home where we lived in Mt Clemens, Michigan in the 1940’s. It was all very interesting but not enough to write about. Then came the highlight of our trip.
We went to the small town house duplex we lived in on Moross Road on the East side of Detroit. We knocked on the door and Wayne introduced us and said that we used to live in this house back in the 1950’s. Wayne asked if we could look through the house. It was now occupied by an African American family. They were very friendly and welcomed us into their home. This family consisted of a father, a mother and a sixteen year old daughter. The mother was not at home at the time as she was working at a job that paid barely minimum wage. We’ll call the father William and the daughter, Mary.
William was laid off and his workers compensation was about to end. Mary was a junior at Denby High School. This was the same school that we all went to in the 50’s. Mary also had a part time job at McDonalds.
What a memorable feeling we had as we walked through that house. Mary had that upstairs nine by nine room to herself. This was the same room that all three of us shared. It wasn’t even big enough for her. The attic where Mother would hide Christmas presents was still there as was the Terrace that was connected to the kitchen and dining room. The refrigerator was in the same spot. The kitchen table and the ping pong table were the same ones we left there in the 50’s. I told Mary the story of the caramel cakes.
We went through the basement where we used to listen to Tiger baseball games. I told William that I remembered listening at this very spot as Virgil Trucks pitched his second no-hitter of the year in 1952. I also commented on the basement steps where we would sit and shine our shoes.
Wayne explained to William how we never needed a key to enter the house. He told him how we would climb up to the top of the roof and down the other side to the roof of the terrace and enter through the bedroom window.
Wayne talked at length with Mary and of her future aspirations. She seemed to think her reality would find her working full time at McDonalds and maybe someday become a manager.
As we were about to leave Wayne said to William that he spotted what appeared to be a dollar bill folded on the ground of his driveway. William picked it up and unfolded a one hundred dollar bill. Wayne said if he found that in his driveway he would take his family to dinner. William’s tears were real. He thought he was dreaming.
When we got to the car to leave Wayne said he forgot something. We walked back to Mary and Wayne told her “Since you are living in my house and sleeping in my bedroom and going to my school, you just can’t stop now.” He then presented her with a scholorship to his alma mater, Wayne State University. After seeing her reaction, even my tears were real.