There are many points in my life that evoke nostalgia, but none as strong as the feeling I get when I reminisce about my childhood home, specifically my living room window.
It was the late 1980s when we resided above our family pizza restaurant at 90 Wellington Street East in Aurora. Since we didn't have central air conditioning at the time, on Hot Summer Nights, I would sit by the living room window, my face pressed against the screen, gazing out at the passing traffic and people. I can still recall the scent of the mesh screen, which brings back memories of old guitar strings.
Aurora was vastly different back then. It was much smaller than it is now, but that particular section of Wellington Street East was always bustling due to our restaurant. Local families would come for dinner or gather to watch hockey games on our small TV, precariously perched on a milk crate atop a Coca-Cola fridge. The place was a hangout spot for many, including my brothers and their friends, so there was always something happening outside, especially at night.
What stands out the most in my memory is the constant presence of music emanating from my brothers' and their friends' parked cars on the street. They would often take breaks or when things were slow, gather outside to enjoy a smoke. While I was too young to be allowed outside that late at night, I would sit in the living room with my face pressed against the window, breathing in the scent of the rusty screen and feeling the warmth of summer. All the while, I listened to the popular music of the day. Artists like Eric Carmen, Eddie Money, Meatloaf, Billy Joel, and John Cougar Mellencamp were the soundtrack to my upbringing.
The nostalgia is so intense that I've even created a playlist, which I constantly update whenever a song from that era reminds me of those times. You can check out the playlist here: MY CHILDHOOD.