This is my life as it comes hurdling by....

Monday, January 10, 2011

Timber Trail

Did you grow up on a street like mine?

My street was amazing.
Every house was like a puzzle piece.
Each family inside had it's own unique shape.
Their own rules.
Their own expectations.
Their own way of living.
Each one different yet we fit together perfectly.

You could always tell who was outside because somewhere on the street you could find their bike-thrown haphazardly to the ground.
A kickball lingering on the side of the road.
Ball gloves piled on the large rocks in front of my house.

It wasn't unusual for our parents to drive home and interrupt a game of kickball.
Or to find us wandering the endless trails looping through the woods across the street.
Some lead to our clubhouse- a clearing in the shape of a circle.
Some lead to the creek.
Some lead to a large field that touched the edge of a busy street.
We would be outside for hours with no worries from our parents about where we were or what we were doing.

We put on plays, we sold lemonade, we camped out under the stars (although I can't remember actually making it through the night).

It wasn't always rays of sunshine of course.
We fought, we argued, we tattled on each other, we cheated at games, we ganged up on each other, we picked favorites, we made each other cry.

Last week I attended the visitation of one of the boys I grew up with on this street. With his passing, it has made me question just how normal my childhood was.
It is hard for me to imagine anyone growing up any different from me. Now that I am older, with kids, I realize how special my neighborhood was.

A piece of our puzzle is now missing but it's place is held firmly in our hearts. We will all hold vivid memories of good times, good people, good families and those never ending games of kickball.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautifully said. There is a place missing in the kickball field, which will never be replaced, but count yourself lucky to have been part of a really great team. Our fun childhood memories are what makes us better parents. We strive for our children to know the simple pleasures of sitting on a rock and gazing up at the stars or working hard to catch a fly ball for a Zesto ice cream. Thank God for family traditions.

Anna said...

Could not have said it better myself Jenni!!
Like you, I spent a lot of time last week reminiscing about our childhood. I believe we were truly blessed to have had such a great place to grow up!
I would love for my own kids to have a Timber Trail to call home, but I don't know if that exists anymore in this day and age. While that is very sad to me, for them, I am glad that I got to experience it.

Unknown said...

Our neighborhood was special!! I never realized until I got older (possibly even last week) that Timber Trail didn't exist in everyone's neighborhood. I truly believed that every street in every city had a group of kids just like us! We are definitely very fortunate to have those memories and experiences.
By the way, we also played A LOT of four square!! ;-)

JenniCummings said...

LOL, YES! We did play a lot of four square. I remember hanging out at the "Blue Swing Cafe" a lot too.

Unknown said...

I was a zebra head. I am posting this up. No other words could of said it better. I hated your driveway to play four square. You girls would hit it in the small coner of the square to where I could not get it. It would piss me off. Also it was cool that the Park's had a membership to Sam's Club. We loved those 5 bls bags of gummy bears. Jenni, sorry for tearing your shirt or shirts. I still need to pay you back for those. Also Anna, stay off my bike, I told you that you would break your arm. Did you listen, NOOOOOOO!

Lil Jon said...

Its Lil Jon

Lil Jon said...

Yes this is John (Lil Jon). I remember now me doing a move called the Texas Tornado. I got it from wrestling back in the eighty. LOL! When I would set it to my self, I would do a 360 punch on the ball and punch the ball. LOL. No wonder I have so many hip problems, doing stuff like that. KIDS will always be KIDS. Maybe we can all get together this spring/summer. If we do, lets get the elderly game of four square happen. Just make sure you serve it to me so I do not injure something else.