This site is about experiences, particularly experiences regarding streets - the streets on which we have grown up, lived, visited and revisited, the streets that hold our favorite memories and our most terrifying nightmares. It is about the judgements (and misjudgments) and especially the (often erroneous) assumptions others make about us based on these streets. In other words, streets as a metaphor. Due to reflection on my own 'streets,' and those with whom I have shared some of these streets along the way, I realize not only how I came to be where and who I am in my life, but these reflections have also allowed me to see many of my own assumptions and misjudgments, and I would like to add, miscalculations.
These reflections have also allowed me to discover the issues that are important to me. One of these is homelessness, and people for whom the word streets carries a much larger meaning. For that reason, I will devote a page to homelessness, the varying circumstances that lead people into this unfortunate reality, as well as the challenges these people face when trying to re-enter their communities as productive citizens. Another issue that will get a page of its own is that of cult education. In harmony with the theme of this site, some streets have had a larger impact on our lives than others. That's why I will give certain subjects their own page (other streets might be given a blog post). Nevertheless, even a street that impacted us greatly does not have to define us. That's why I'm giving them 'pages.' They are one page (or maybe chapter) in a larger life.
This is the Noah Street on which I lived, it has since been renamed and the house in which I lived is no longer there, as it was condemned.
Noah Street, One of Many
They left that very night, but I wouldn't know that for many years to come. I had left earlier that day, in the back of a police car. I had lived on Noah street for most of of my twelve plus years. On this day my connection to that street was severed in a significant way. I left with only the clothes on my back. I declined the offer to reenter the house, even with protection. Since that day I've lived on many different streets, both literally and figuratively. I've changed residences forty different times so far-literally. And most, if not all, of those streets are a part of me.
Throughout my life, I've become fascinated with how people are often judged by the streets on which we live, not just the physical location- the neighborhood- but all of the conjecture that goes with the label. More than that, I'm fascinated by the actual character of a street, which encompasses the flavor, the subtle nuance, the essence that is experienced most intensely by those who live there.
Beginning on December 19, 2019, my fascination was once again heightened. On this day, I reconnected with my biological brother, whom I had not seen or spoken with since the day we were both taken from Noah Street-taken at different hours, by different people, to go in very different directions. I will not attempt to tell my brother's story, except where it is directly related to mine. Also, the theme of this site is streets, the ones we travel, the ones we visit and revisit, the ones on which we live, the people we meet in our journey and the experiences that become a part of us. So I'm not just going to tell a story. This is Street as a metaphor.