Looking back

I went to Karen's blog today and read her latest post about The Wonder Years and Elvis Presley. You know, she got me thinking about the good old days when I was growing up. I remember growing up on a street where we actually knew our neighbors. We really did. We knew their names, knew what they did for a living, knew their kids. Surprise, surprise. How many can say that now?

When I was growing up, we didn't have video games or personal computers. We rode the school bus to and from school. Every afternoon, as soon as we got home, we'd eat a snack and run out to meet the rest of the neighborhood kids for a rousing game of...whatever we could think of. Like in the movie Sandlot, the vacant lot across the street was our playground. There, we played cops and robbers, tetherball, handball, volleyball, kickball...any kind of ball. We'd play until close to sundown, when our Moms would poke their heads out of our respective doors and call us home. We parted reluctantly, dirty and tired, but grinning like fools and promising to do it again the next day. I miss those times. That was some of the most fun, innocent years of my life.

One by one, the families moved away. We moved too, not really far, but far enough that I never saw my friends again. I've lost touch with them. Over the years, I've often wondered how they're doing, where they are. Do they look back on those times with the same fondness and nostalgia that I do? I hope so.

Life now is different. I know my immediate neighbors, but not the family further down the street. Apart from an occasional greeting, I don't know anything about them. My kids are involved in sports, and when they get home, they switch on the computer and do their homework. They watch tv and play video games. Everything's changed.

I will always cherish my childhood memories. I understand that the world changes, and we have to change with it. I only wish that my kids experienced the same innocent fun that I did, the friendships, and the memories. Someday, I want to take them back. The old neighborhood won't be the same, but I want them to see it through my eyes. I want to share my memories. Maybe, just maybe, I can relive my childhood too. For a brief moment in time.