Skyline Drive ....anywhere USA

It seems like a different lifetime ago and yet I remember being there. This was 1980. These are our two children. One of each... a boy and a girl-what a gift! This sail boat had a former life as a skid from the back of the shop at The"D" Company. It became a sand box, but was soon too small and enjoyed a very short afternoon as a sail boat.

We moved into our "raised ranch", stretching our budget as far as we could, to get an extra bathroom and a playroom. We had purchased our first home, a small well built, post war, three bedroom ranch just after we were married in 1974. The neighborhood was turning over and a lot of the homes had young newly married couples moving in. This is where we met our closest friends. The friends that would last a lifetime. I was pregnant at the closing. That was NOT planned. It became apparent that almost everyone else must have been also. In the spring there were new babies everywhere. What a wonderful time we had with these young families. Picnics, long walks, parties... it was magical, although at the time, the competition for the first to toilet train or ride a bike was cut throat. We were competative parents. We still are! The little ranch was becoming too small and I was expecting another child. We began to look for a bigger house, but not too far from our friends who were our life line. The raised ranch was just a few blocks away. Our friends even bought the house directly across the street from us to stay nearby.

We had each other to talk to, play and sing with and bounce concerns off. I don't think that young families have a lot of that- peer support- now. I worry. Everyone has to work to keep up. We didn't work. We stayed at home with our babies, all of us. Infact we didn't know any "mom's" that did work full time. Part-time work was common. I worked second shift as a nurse. That was almost an unnoticed absence from the "group". We would spend time almost everyday with each other- friends and young playmates. I loved it! We all did. Many of the families that we started our lives with are still our closest friends. They have been there to support us, and we them- through new life joys and crisises. Some are grandparents now. I'm almost ready for that. Some have divorced or lost their spouse or a child. So many of the changes are joyous--graduations, weddings births. But a few have been gut wrenching, too painful. We are still close to so many of these friends from our days as newly weds and young new parents. I'm thinking of this now- because our two children (now four --including our son-in-law and daughter-in-law) are making new friends in their young adult lives. They have their first homes and will be starting their families. Will they know the joys of life long friends? It seems so! Already we hear stories of new neighbors coming over, helping each other out. Ahhhh...... yes.