"But some things are the same. My mother still owns the house I grew up in, on what would now be called a cul de sac, but which the sign on the corner called a dead end street"
About this Quote
The line “But some things are the same” sets up a quiet bait-and-switch. Yes, her mother still owns the house: an anchor, a rare continuity. Then the sentence swivels, and you realize continuity is fragile. The neighborhood’s self-image has been renovated even if the asphalt hasn’t. That tension is the subtext: aging isn’t only about bodies and families, it’s about watching the world cosmetically rename itself while your private memories stay stubbornly blunt.
Stole’s actorly precision matters here. She’s giving you a camera move from interior (mother, home, childhood) to exterior (the sign on the corner), grounding sentiment in a prop you can see. It’s funny in a dry way, but also faintly mournful: the past isn’t just gone, it’s been rebranded. And the house, held by her mother, becomes a last holdout against the culture’s instinct to smooth over anything that sounds like an ending.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mother |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Stole, Mink. (2026, January 15). But some things are the same. My mother still owns the house I grew up in, on what would now be called a cul de sac, but which the sign on the corner called a dead end street. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-some-things-are-the-same-my-mother-still-owns-152954/
Chicago Style
Stole, Mink. "But some things are the same. My mother still owns the house I grew up in, on what would now be called a cul de sac, but which the sign on the corner called a dead end street." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-some-things-are-the-same-my-mother-still-owns-152954/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"But some things are the same. My mother still owns the house I grew up in, on what would now be called a cul de sac, but which the sign on the corner called a dead end street." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/but-some-things-are-the-same-my-mother-still-owns-152954/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
