For some reason it gets a lot warmer in this room I
have at Manny’s and my Sister Louana’s home here
on Bandera Street.

I could care less, this home is spotless and Manny
can cook the finest food imaginable.

It has been almost exactly 3-weeks since I arrived here
late one night after driving straight through from the
panhandle of Texas. It was 1,500-miles on the nose but
then you have to take into account my little mistake out
in the middle of New Mexico when I got myself going
in the wrong direction for about 120-miles.

Sometimes, some strange thoughts come out of this old
mind of mine.
After growing up out in the Mojave Desert, here I sit right
here, not more than 60 miles from my hometown.

Yes, the town I could not wait to leave to start my
adventures.

Again the same old lesson seems to come back to me;
“No matter where you start or where you go, you usually
end up in about the same place it all began”

After being all over the country for 40-year’s I’m here
with my Sister, right back near where it all started. Again
the lesson held true.

Every day it’s fun just getting up and knowing I’ll have
another day here with them on this small street in California.

This home on Bandera street in Montclair California was
built in the 50’s and it has the quality that you just can't
find in today’s new homes. The walls are really made of
wood, the windows hold out all of the cold air and the
rooms are small compared to what you will find today in
some of the never-ending tracts of homes.

The walls in my room are full of family pictures and I am
finally getting to know a few of the faces. Faces I had no
idea existed until Louana and I were together once again.

Southern California is an interesting place. I can walk down
Bandera street one block, cross Bensen Avenue and like
magic I’m in Ontario, 2-miles in the other direction and I’m
in Chino. Towns have grown together all the way from the
San Fernando Valley which is North to Riverside 20-miles
South.

Homes like this one have become tiny communities of their
own. People do not know their next door neighbor’s names
or say hello to those passing them on the street.

Communities have worked their way down to single
households, how long will it take to change that into one
single person?
Are we slowly working our way toward solidarity?

Not here in this small home on Bandera Street. There is still
laughter and joy and most important my family every night.

So the adventures are not over yet. Bandera Street is my home
and just walking down the block into Ontario is new.

My dreams have become simple, all I want is to have this
family near me and feel I’m a part of their lives and they
are a part of mine.

So, on Bandera Street I hang my hat with Louana, Manny
and the whole family.

What a wonderful way to continue my life’s story.

©Bobby

Louana and Manny