Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Looking Back

I have reconnected with some old friends from Facebook in the last few weeks.
They posted pictures of my family I have never seen,it has been really wonderful to see them.
My mind goes back to those early days of my life and now I see how we are connected.For this I thank my long lost friends.
My neighborhood in Roseland was really the best,I can see all the houses,the cars parked in the street,the people who I knew so well.
We had little crime,none that I remember.
I felt like there were many moms looking out for us.
We played baseball in the street until the streetlights came on.That meant it was time to stretch out any game we were playing as long as possible.
Every spring and summer night it was baseball,fall and winter were times for football and hockey.I loved these games.

There certainly were some ecccentrics who lived on my street.
The crossing guard Bertha who told me to get my friends together and do something about all the blacks moving in.
The 2 old men who I think were brothers who lived next to the pumping station who we never saw.
The ex Chicago bear who lived in an upstairs flat with his family.
The beagles across the street who never stopped howling for 5 years.
The TV repair guy next door who charged my dad $3.oo for travel time.He probably walked 30 feet.
The good and kind people,Mr Riley who taught me how to ride a bike.
Mr.Ooms from next door who was always kind.
The guy who drove his big truck at 5 every afternoon that always waved as he went by.
Mrs. Stein who was kinder than anyone I ever met.
The Walkers whos son became a police chief in the suburbs.
Mr. Slager who told me not to whip my arms around or they would fall off.
The guy with the 1955 Thunderbird who lived at the end of the street.It just rusted away.
My dad hand feeding the squirrels Oreos.
All the big front porches that we hung out on with no complaints,the people never minded.
The yards we would walk through as long as we shut the gates.

These were good times.It was a place to grow up that we all remember so well.

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