The Neighbors

Neighbors, in general, are always an interesting mix of people.  You are kind of thrown together for no other reason than you happened to purchase a house on the same street.  Some of them you meet and become fast friends.  Some you barely wave to when you drive by and you never even know their name.  Some are troublemakers and busy-bodies and you find them annoying and keep your distance.  Some are nice and friendly one minute, mean and nasty the next.  Yes, a strange lot.

We have lived on our street for almost 12 years.  This is the only house all three of my kids have ever known.  Neighbors have come and gone.  And come and gone.  And come and gone.  We never meant to be in our house more than 2 - 3 years.  I believe I mentioned we’re going on 12.

When we moved in 12 years ago, there weren’t many children on the street.  We didn’t have kids yet so it wasn’t a big deal for us.  We had two kids next door to us but that was about it.  Once we started having kids, it became more apparent that our street just wasn’t going to be the kind of street kids would be comfortable playing on.  Jump 12 years and we have more kids on the street than we know what to do with.  We’ve had some very busy parents in the last several years.

Now, our street is filled with kids.  Kids to the left of us, kids to the right.  Up the street, down the street.  Crazy amounts of kids.  12 years later and we have the street that people envy.  My kids have neighborhood friends that they play with and bike with and swim with.  They come home from school and the kids are all outside.  Summer nights are filled with bike riding and Popsicles and last minute sleepovers.  These are the memories of my childhood.  These are the realities of my children.

I wonder sometimes what happened to the kids in my neighborhood when I grew up.  The girls I rode bikes with, played in the woods with, had sleepovers with.  Where are they now?  Are their kids having the same experiences that we did?  We aren’t friends anymore, haven’t been since we went our separate ways in college.  Would we have become friends if we hadn’t lived on the same street?  I wonder.

My children will go through junior high and high school with their neighborhood friends.  Will they lose touch in college… will they stay friends?  These will be the kids they remember when they think back on their childhood.  These little girls playing in my front yard, riding bikes and running through the sprinkler.  These are the kids that will fill their memories.