Adult life Quote by Alice Munro
““Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east of Huron County. We passed a country store standing empty at a crossroads. It had old-fashioned store windows, with long narrow panes. Out in front there was a stand for gas pumps which weren't there anymore. Close beside it was a mound of sumac trees and strangling vines, into which all kinds of junk had been thrown. The sumacs jogged my memory and I looked back at the store. It seemed to me that I had been here once, and the the scene was connected with some disappointment or dismay. I knew that I had never driven this way before in my adult life and I did not think I could have come here as a child. It was too far from home. Most of our drives out of town where to my grandparents'house in Blyth--they had retired there after they sold the farm. And once a summer we drove to the lake at Goderich. But even as I was saying this to my husband I remembered the disappointment. Ice cream. Then I remembered everything--the trip my father and I had made to Muskoka in 1941, when my mother was already there, selling furs at the Pine Tree Hotel north of Gravehurst.””
About This Quote
A nostalgic recollection of a forgotten rural landscape triggers a cascade of personal memories, linking places, family trips, and emotional undercurrents of loss and longing.
In simple terms: Memory is sparked by a deserted store and its surroundings.
Physical places can unlock deep, layered recollections.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- driving through unfamiliar countryside
- passing an abandoned shop
- recalling childhood trips
- reflecting on family journeys
Key Concepts
Practical Applications
- creative writing inspiration
- psychological exploration of memory
Questions to Reflect On
- What does this scene reveal about how we anchor memories to places?
- How do forgotten spaces shape our sense of identity?