With the exception of ten years in the 1980's, I have lived in the same house my entire life. It is the home that my family moved into when my sister & I (remember I am a twin) were three months old. Every afternoon, I take a walk about the neighborhood.
As usual, my walk turns into a stroll down memory lane because as I walk down my block, I can recall the family name of everyone who lived in each house and a story about each one.
In the past 60 years, my house is the only one on my block which has not changed families. We have a saying in my town that the only way people leave this town is when they carry you out.
Across the street there is a family who has lived in their house longer than mine. They have a picture in their living room which shows their house standing in the middle of a field. Theirs was the first house built in the neighborhood back in the 1940's. How do I know about the picture? In that modest story and half house, the parents raised nine children. Amongst those children was a set of fraternal twin girls who were born eight months before my sister and me. Because our homes are only a street away from the local Catholic Church and school, we ended up in the same grade. Needless to say, we became friends and "palled around" together through grade eight. Then my sister and I and a few classmates went to the Catholic high school in the neighboring town while they and the rest of our grade school class went on to the public high school in town.
Like me, neither of the girls married and now they are the only occupants of that house which sports the prettiest front yard flower bed. We still see each other occasionally to get caught up on family and neighborhood news. There is much more I could say about my hometown, but that is for future blogs. But right now, the sun is shining and I am going to bundle up (it is only in the 40's) and take my daily walk about the neighborhood.
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