Conway Twitty sang a song I wrote called, “That’s My Job.” In the song I wrote, “So I made my way down the mirrored hall… and tapped upon his door.”
This is that mirrored hall today. ON a recent visit to my hometown I did what I always do and stopped by my old house. It’s derelict now. Owned by the bank, I guess. A real mess.
But this is the hall. To my right is where my parent’s bedroom door was. Where I would go running when I had bad dreams or an upset stomach. Across the hall was the room where I lay on a tiny little bed wrapped in my plaster cast from my broken leg.
I could not believe how tiny that room was. I had a bed, a dresser, a table with a stereo on it and a guitar leaning against the wall. I guess the answer is…I was tiny.
I love going to the old house every time I come back to Meriden. I had a crazy idea that maybe I could buy the house and come up every few months and work on rehabbing it. Then I said to myself…”If you really think that is a good idea…YOU need to go to rehab.”
I hope someone buys it someday. I hope some other kid lays in his bed in that little room and has as great a life as I did. Without the broken leg, of course.
The mirror isn’t there anymore. I was just about to type “Sometimes you don’t need a mirror to see yourself…”
But as I started I threw up a little in my mouth.