Gone but not forgotten

Yesterday it was just Alicia and I here. I wanted to go for a bike ride with her. That is when I discovered that Alicia had no shoes other than flip-flops that fit her. We will be heading to Cape Cod next weekend and she will need more than just flip flops for that trip. So we went sneaker shopping. I figured we'd just go to the Shoe Department store here in town and be done with it, but Alicia had other ideas. She had her heart set on converse and the local store wouldn't do, so we went to the mall. She had mentioned in the past that she would like to go to her grandfather's grave and see it. I figured this might be a good day for that so after Alicia decided on the gray converse sneakers, we headed up to Oakwood Cemetery in Penfield. I hadn't thought to bring my camera along for this excursion. I'm sorry now. Thankfully, I have a sister who doesn't mind my borrowing images that she has taken. (Right, Mart?)This is not my father's grave, but it is my mother's father's grave. His grave is just three down from my father's grave. I showed this one to Alicia too. I have no picture of my father's grave. Perhaps Martha has one, but not one on her blog that I can borrow.Afterward we swung over to Webster for a bit to eat. We drove by the Dayton Corners School house on the corner of Creek and Plank and I decided to pull in and show Alicia the initials that her great grandfather carved into the post running up the outside. (This time my Father's father)
This of course is not Alicia pointing to her grandfather's initials, but it is my niece, Hannah in 2004. Grandpa P was born in 1904 and attended the school house when he was a boy. I'm guessing that these initials were carved in or around the year 1917. No one knows for sure though. Grandpa lived down the street in a big farmhouse. He was one of 6 children and the family owned quite a bit of land on Creek Street. The farmhouse is still there...right near a street called Royal View Drive on the opposite side of Creek Street. I drove down past it and pointed it out to Alicia. The house sits on an average sized lot and the barn is gone. All the farmland has long ago been parceled up into sections for more houses and neighborhoods.
Lately we have been busy cleaning out my parent's home in Webster to sell it. It felt strange to be so near a place I called home for many years and be unable to go there. I was pretty sure that no one would be there and the place is empty and locked up. Soon it will be owned by someone else...just like that old farmhouse on Creek Street. History gone but not forgotten.