I've gone back to many places I visited in my childhood, including my grandparents' home that I hadn't seen in about 30 years, and have no regrets whatsoever. Maybe if the house wasn't still there I would have been sad, but I loved being able to show my son the park where my cousin and I went and played for hours without telling anyone and came back and got in so much trouble (don't think he was quite as enthralled); seeing that the driveway was smaller than I remembered, seeing the porch where I'd sit and watch my collection of fireflies before releasing them. I loved it. I kind of wish I would have knocked and seen if the new owners would have invited me in - it was a very cool house in Oak Park and had wonderful "secret" areas I used to play in.

Going back to Norway after a lengthy time away with three generations of my family was also a fantasic experience for all of us.

In the end, I suppose it depends on your intentions and what you're expecting to find. I just wanted to reminice a little and see if things looked at all the way I remembered them from my child's mind. Change was fine, but I'm pretty good at reminiscing and moving on and accepting that things will never be like they once were nor should they be.

Punki: The Anchorage Costco has Aloha shirts, Hawaiian cookbooks and coconut syrup?