I regularly follow a Facebook post called: “Originally From Brighton 02135” which features pictures and stories from my old neighborhood in Boston. It is a great source of nostalgia and good memories.

The other day, a member of the Facebook group posted a picture of the fire station up the street from our house when it was dedicated in the early part of the 20th century. The picture immediately brought back memories, from my childhood and beyond.

We used to drive or walk by the fire station every day and I can still remember my mother, at that time a cub scout “Den Mother” taking my older brother’s cub scout group up there to meet the fire fighters and learn about the station. I was too young to be a cub scout but came along for the fun.

I also remember that the field behind the fire station was a great place to play baseball until construction of apartments forced us to move to other places to play.

Of course, as I grew older, the fire station became less interesting and when I left for college, I forgot it was there.

Then, many years later, I found it again.

When our son, Avi, was 5, he and I took a trip to Boston to visit my parents. He had been there with us before but this was the first time that just the two of us had gone together and I promised him we would do a lot of fun stuff. We went to the aquarium in Boston and several other places but the place that attracted most attention for him was the old fire station.

We live down the street from a fire station here in Ann Arbor and Avi and I spent many summer afternoons walking to the station and talking with the firefighters but this station was different, with an old bell system, with a higher pole to slide down and, most importantly, with a truck with a ladder that reached 5 or 6 stories. We spent several mornings during that trip hanging around the station, watching them test the ladders, waiting for the firefighters to come back from a call and just enjoying the atmosphere.

The picture on Facebook brought back memories of my youth but even more cherished memories of those moments with Avi.

Avi turned 21 this week. But, the memories are as vivid as always.

Happy Birthday Avi! Thanks for the memories and, God willing, for the many memories still to come.