The neighborhood ties that bind

I hope that one day my children can look back on the values that were instilled on them from the neighborhood that they grew up in. I hope they will always feel the ties that bind them to a special place in their heart. This experience hit home for me once again in my adult life. Recently, I attended a memorial service for a dear old neighborhood friend. You know the kind of person that was with you during those really growing up years, when you are beginning to stand on your own. That was who Doris was to me. We went to high school together, she was a year younger, she had a brother my age, so we hung with a lot of the same people and for a time in my life this was the group I was the most tight with. I experienced such fun and side splitting laughter when in the presence of Doris. And during these years we shared our hopes and dreams of what we wanted to be, and the ups and downs of the boyfriends we had. The world became “very green”. This became a fun remember when saying, from a long ago trip, that still is one of the funnest times I’ve had. I loved my time spent in this place. This was when I still lived at home, still figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. On a break during my college years. So when I feel the neighborhood ties, its because of all the experiences I have had with these people that I grew up with. Those that shaped you for who you are now.

So as I walked into the memorial I noticed so many of those faces that I have loved throughout my life. Those that still tie us together. We still find out about each other and keep updates. But look, I haven’t seen most of them in so many years. They too have grown up, but to me, so many faces are just how you would expect them to look. I remember the youthful faces of each one of these people. I remember when we were so young and naive. Look at us all. The experience of life has changed us, has made us responsible adults. (I think) But, when we look and connect again with each other, and take the remember when journey, then we again can laugh at ourselves in those fun shaping years. I will miss my friend Doris. I have cried my eyes out for losing her at this age. My neighborhood of my childhood always holds that special place in my heart. It brings me back to my growing up roots, and calls me home still.