Houston is a tough place to live. As one of those of the well identified aging population I am starting to miss the past. I don’t live there yet but I do think about it. And Houston is a place where the past disappears and steals the pieces of your memories.

The home I grew up in is gone- replaced by a mega-mansion that shelters two people. I buried two dogs in that garden with ceremony and tears.

The house I raised my own family in is also gone. Something that looks like the Alamo has taken its place. But they did leave a couple of the beautiful live oaks for which I am grateful. It takes a long time for those trees to reach majestic heights and seconds to obliterate them forever changing the character of our city. Trees are one of the unique features which make Houston more beautiful and help to cool us in our long hot summers.

The high school where I smoked behind the gym and learned other useful things has been replaced by a post office! I used to enjoy driving by and thinking what a great place it was. Block after block of strip centers to serve all those that have moved, to what we called the boonies, years ago.

Three living generation of my family shopped at the same grocery store and everyone who worked there knew us. It fell to a Pet’s Mart. Handy for my cats but not for me. I am shopping at stores that are so big that lists don’t help you find what you came for. No last minute run ins or produce selected just for you.

We left the keys in the car and the screen door unlocked. On hot days we huddled in my parents bedroom which had a window unit air condition and played fish or listened as my mother read Nancy Drew mysteries aloud. Otherwise we were at the mercy of cross ventilation and attic fans. Tans were in and our clothes smelled of sunshine.

Felix’s, which had a 50 cent dinner and the best chile con queso in the world, and now it’s today that it is closing. The Gulf Publishing Building on the Allen Parkway disappeared and the coliseum where I saw Elvis and watched the rodeo is history. The Hobby Center is nicer but can they bring back Elvis?

I do have a couple of landmarks still upright. One, a tiny grey shingle house, was built by my parents in my grandfathers backyard for $4,000. Soon it will disappear to the expansion plans of the University of St. Thomas.

Then I’ll be down to one. It is a lovely Greek revival house which was constructed by my maternal grandparents on Courtland Place. Safe forever because the entire street is a protected historic landmark. God bless those who had the foresight to preserve it as a remembrance as a style of life becoming extinct.

I am not saying that then was better than now but sometimes the past is as important as the future. And Houston is in such a rush- a high speed venue. We sit in the traffic talking on our cell phones making appointments to exercise because we don’t walk anymore. So mostly I am too busy to notice the absence of landmarks in my life. But when I do it makes me sad. That’s why Houston is a hard place to live. It destroys the past.