I had a very happy childhood. On the street where I grew up, there were a lot of children. I am the youngest of three. Most homes had at least two kids, so there were many of us roaming the neighborhood.
Our immediate neighbors had no children. However, they had dogs. They were a discrete English couple who bred Bull Terriers. I love dogs, but can’t say that I was a fan of their piggy-eyed bullies.
The other childless home, across the street from us, belonged to a bachelor with diabetes named Arnold. He liked motorcycles and had a big Harley. He used to take us kids out for rides. This terrified my mother, but we thought it was great fun!
It was a place where one could ask a neighbor for an egg, a cup of sugar, a saw, some help or what ever. We left the house key under the doormat.
Kids hopped around on pogo sticks, raced down the street in go-carts and on bikes. We played “war” during the Vietnam era. There were not many girls on the block, but we were the designated nurses who waited in one neighbor’s garden while the boys battled in another yard. I have since become a pacifist and sometimes think about that “game” of ours. How sad that it became a subject of play.
Some of the “kids” have now passed but a couple of people still live on the old block. The most wonderful thing of all is that our family home
is still intact. In fact, there are 3 of the original
tract homes standing in a row today, after all
these years, despite all of the changes in that town. It gives me a good feeling to drive by the old house.
— MCW
Our immediate neighbors had no children. However, they had dogs. They were a discrete English couple who bred Bull Terriers. I love dogs, but can’t say that I was a fan of their piggy-eyed bullies.
The other childless home, across the street from us, belonged to a bachelor with diabetes named Arnold. He liked motorcycles and had a big Harley. He used to take us kids out for rides. This terrified my mother, but we thought it was great fun!
It was a place where one could ask a neighbor for an egg, a cup of sugar, a saw, some help or what ever. We left the house key under the doormat.
Kids hopped around on pogo sticks, raced down the street in go-carts and on bikes. We played “war” during the Vietnam era. There were not many girls on the block, but we were the designated nurses who waited in one neighbor’s garden while the boys battled in another yard. I have since become a pacifist and sometimes think about that “game” of ours. How sad that it became a subject of play.
Some of the “kids” have now passed but a couple of people still live on the old block. The most wonderful thing of all is that our family home
is still intact. In fact, there are 3 of the original
tract homes standing in a row today, after all
these years, despite all of the changes in that town. It gives me a good feeling to drive by the old house.
— MCW
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