Chino Is A Time Capsule

Chino, CA is like a time capsule.

Last night I dropped my girlfriend Kelly off at her parents house, which just happens to be spitting distance from the house I grew up in. I haven't driven through Chino in several years.

Getting off the 60 fwy was surreal for me. Turning North on Central Ave, East on Philadelphia, South on Benson... (Disclaimer: I am directionally retarded in the OC. In my head, the beach is W E S T, like on the map of the US. I don't understand why I have to take the 55 SOUTH to get to the beach. Mexico is South!! But anyway...in Chino, the mountains are N O R T H. Kinda hard to get lost there...) And then into my childhood stomping grounds.

I was giggling pointing at the crosswalk outside of the Chino Town Square. "Kelly! Do you remember when we tried to cross the street while they were building the Target only we couldn't comprehand why cars were turning when we had the cross-walk signal?" We were like... 10? Clearly should not have been walking across major intersections at that age, in my opinion.

One summer, Kelly's older sister Sherri had a fantastic idea!! We were having an unusual summer storm. It was muggy and rain was coming down in buckets. We covered our feet in plastic grocery bags and went tromping thru the gutters. (gross) And one time we filled up garbage cans with water and made our own "jacuzzis". (double gross) We were always up to something. I remember when Kelly's folks bought a new fridge and we got the ginormous box. Sweet... We had the coolest clubhouse ever! Until it rained.

My childhood was filled with a lot of drama which seems to have blocked out my good memories of being a kid. Divorce, moving, vicious custody battles, arguing with my parents, moving back and forth between the two homes, more divorce: All of these things made me a pretty jaded little girl. I can imagine I wasn't easy to live with. (Sorry mom, dad, elva & roy!! XXXOOO)

Meanwhile back on the ranch...

Driving through Chino with my kids asleep in the car was so hard. I wanted to wake them up! Drive them by Walnut Ave. to show them where I attended 2nd - 6th grade. Magnolia Jr. High. Chino Senior High, with the big "COWBOYS" sign still painted across the front of the gym. I wanted them to see the huge Chino Town Square and say, "I remember before any of this was here. Your uncles and I used to ride our bikes in the huge dirt piles. We would make jumps out of any debris that was left there. And now look, tons of stores and a parking lot. Some of my childhood memories are buried under there."

Summer's in Chino were spent in my dad's pool. The neighborhood kids would all come swimming as temperatures would hit the 100's (triple gross, btw) - we would swim until the sun went down, then do it all over again the next day. My dad would get home from work and see 10 kids in his pool (half which were biologically his) , 20 towels hanging over the pool gate and just grin & shake his head.

Chino holds a lot of sad memories for me. Some of which are depressing enough to have kept me away for all these years. But, the simple drive through last night made me realize something: My good memories as a child totally outweigh the bad and I need to start sharing them with my kids.