Neighbors and Neighborhoods

When I was growing up my neighborhood was a very fun place to me. We had some fun neighbors and we also had some not so fun ones too. Two of my favorite neighbors growing up were 2 older couples.

Our next door neighbors were Helen and Galen and they were like another set of Grandparents to us. My brother Curt and I would always play in their back yard, or visit them when they listened to the Twins game on the radio. Sometimes they invited us inside for a snack. They had a cocker spaniel named "Christy" and every time Helen would take Christy out to go potty we would yell out the window Christy's name and she would get so excited. I guess when we moved Christy would still go to the window and see if we were there calling for her. I still somewhat keep in touch with Helen. She came to my wedding shower, and she and I send Christmas cards to each other.

Then there was Johnny and Gracie. They were an older couple too and they really loved having the neighborhood kids around. We used to play in their back yard, and he used to pop popcorn or scoop ice cream and share with us. We all loved Johnny and Gracie! He used to give us snowmobile rides in the winter, and motorcycle rides in the summer as long as our parents said it was OK. I can't even remember how many summers I would hang out in their back yard watching their bird and squirrel feeders.

The other day I was thinking about how we don't have may neighbors like I had when I was little. It made me a little sad. They were a great part of the neighborhood and I want Lukas to get that experience too. Some of the houses around us have younger to middle aged with children, but not many retired people that enjoy the neighborhood kids. Things have changed a lot since I was little though. Retirement is harder to come by these days so people are working longer, and in our neighborhood many of the older people have passed or moved. Some of their houses turned into rentals.

Maybe someday we will move and find ourselves in a new neighborhood where there may just be a Helen and Galen or a Johnny and Gracie couple. I guess for now all I can do is hope there are still sweet older couples like that still out there.

Helen/Galen and Johnny/Gracie thanks for being my friend and being such great people!