My neighborhood.... There used to be a lot of kids on my block, and we all used to hang out together. After school we would hurry to finish our homework so we could go outside and play foursquare, soccer, and ride bikes on our dead-end street.
Then life happened. The older kids, at around 12, started getting less interested in hanging out with 9 year olds. a few years later they went off to high school, and well, we all know how much free time you have after that. This was the disintegration of our "gang". More and more of us started getting older, busier, more capable of going other places by ourselves, and soon enough people started moving away.
First it was Nikki, down the block. Then it was Sheila, my next-door neighbor, the Casper's (Anna, Kimberly and Charles).
I never really noticed how many people left. Not until those summer days that you're sitting at home, longing for school to start (but not wanting to admit it.) Bored, and remembering when you were younger and all you had to do was run over to the neighbor's, push the bell (It was the one to the left of the mailbox, right?) and wait patiently for someone to open the door.
Now, in Nikki's house there's an old couple. In Sheila's there's a young family with little kids, and the Casper's is currently up for grabs.
Well... There goes the neighborhood.
I really like the take you took on the assignment. I've never experienced a community or neighborhood like that, so I wouldn't know. I cam still relate to it in some ways though, people grow up and all of the sudden you don't know who they are anymore. You're post really made me think about how much things change when you get older. I haven't decided if I think it's good or bad yet. As with most things, its probably a little bit of both.
ReplyDeleteI remember this happened to me when i was younger but I left my group because of my laziness and loss of interest in kids my own age when I was about 8. I used to play with the neighborhood kids everyday but just like you people got older and some of them moved away. I wonder why ages divides us so much. Maybe that will be our next topic.
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