I remember my childhood so vividly. In the May of 1972 we moved out to the suburbs. It was just a few months before I turned 8, before my younger brother was born. Moving out to the suburbs from "the city" was pretty big for me. In our old house, we had a chain-link-fenced in, tiny yard. We were just a little off Main Street, so there was quite a bit of traffic. Also, I was very young, so my freedom was a bit lacking.
When we moved, I thought we were living in the country; I started looking for cows and chickens! Our yard - fence-less - was easily twice the size of our old yard. There were few cars driving up and down our street. I immediately befriended the couple next door, watching as they put up their log-style fence, which was easy to cut through, and played with their poodle. Behind us was a family with three boys, the youngest just born. Soon after, a family moved in on the other side with lots of kids, but the best of all were the two youngest: two girls almost my age! Taffy was 7, Karen was 6. The 3 of us became inseparable. Just down the street (I could see their home from my bedroom window) was another family with two girls, Christine (6-1/2) and Michelle (5). I had my crew!
The five of us could go anywhere and do anything. We could take our bikes to the playground, or to the little convenience store with our change and buy snacks. We could bounce back and forth and play in each others' yards. Since Taffy & Karen's yard was adjacent to mine...and no fence...we had a HUGE playing field. We had sleepovers and birthday parties and picnics. We would take long walks and just talk. I'll never forget the one time the 5 of us went - with no parents - to see the movie "Once Upon a Time". We even put on a neighborhood show once. Occasionally we were joined by others, but us 5 were the core group.
I would also fly solo. I had 2 other friends, both named Kim, whose houses were one behind the other (and they both had swimming pools). There was the beautiful and mysterious Maria, who lived just a tick down the road. Donna and Cindy (and Cindy's little sister, Michelle) lived behind me, next to and across the street from the house with 3 boys (and eventually there was a 4th; the two younger brothers became good friends with my younger brother). Karl lived across the street when I was a little older: he was a playmate during the day, but on some evenings his parents would hire me to babysit him and his younger brother, Paul.
The oddest "friend" I had was a man who lived up the hill from me. I can't remember his name, but I remember he had a dog, an old, short, fat, ugly, sweet dog named Hobo. I would go to his house frequently, sit in his living room and talk with him, and pat ol' Hobo. Sometimes we would have lemonade (I don't remember ever eating anything there). We had wonderful conversations, and he never, ever, did anything improper or untowards me.
I shudder now to think of that.
Deborah is now the age I was when I had all that freedom, and the thought makes me ill. As much as I would love to give her and Elizabeth that kind of freedom and adventure, I can't. We live in a scary age now. While I can't say that "we could leave our houses unlocked and our keys in our cars" (although we could leave are CARS unlocked), things were a LOT more innocent then. This is also a very different neighborhood, closer to the one my parents moved AWAY from. Everyone watched out for everyone else then. Nowadays, it's too much "everyone look out for yourself". There are also a lot more people out there now who ARE dangerous.
I lament the change in society, and I mourn that innocent age.
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