This is a thank you to the neighborhood boys who I grew up with. Thank you for teaching me how to play street baseball, how to get rough and rowdy and most of all, thank you for helping me become the person I am today.

I’m glad I was just another one of the guys to you. I wasn’t this icky girl who had cooties; I was actually someone who enjoyed video games and playing in the streets until the sun went down and the street lights came on. I’m glad you taught me how to get hurt and to then get up and walk it off after throwing some dirt in it. Thank you for knocking my front tooth out with a bat, it needed to come out, it was just a bit of an unconventional way. And thank you for teaching me how dumb boys can be when it comes to “great ideas!” Ha!

To the neighborhood boy who lived across the street, thank you for being my first crush. Without you I would have thought boys were always icky and sports weren’t for girls. Thank you for teaching me how to properly throw a baseball and swing a bat to get those home runs our team always scored. Thank you for always being brave enough to hop the fence into the next yard over to get our lost balls (those Chihuahuas were vicious). Thank you for being my surrogate older brother when times got tough at school. You were right about my ex-boyfriend, he was a jerk, and I apologize for not listening to you! Even though you didn’t always show it, I knew deep down you cared about me and still do. You really didn’t show it when we played dodgeball at the after school program in elementary school though. I hope someday I’m able to turn on the TV and see you playing professional baseball and say, “Hey, I grew up with that guy! And I got hit in dodgeball in elementary school by that fastball!”

To the neighborhood boy who lived behind me, you were the oldest of all of us, so you always had to be the most mature! You were always the words of wisdom before we started to do something dumb. Now did we always listen, nope! Thank you for showing me how a guy should treat a girl! You always treated my sister and I like family, and looked over us like an older brother would when boys were being mean to us. Thank you for showing me what it was like to play sports in high school and how to overcome an injury that didn’t allow you to play what you loved anymore. Thank you for teaching me how to make a snowball and laughing with me when my little sister mooned us! Thank you for showing me how awesome it is to leave home for college and explore new things. Without you, I probably would have stayed and gone to college at UNR.

It’s crazy to think that we are all adults now living on our own in different states (AZ, NV, & OR); One out of college and two of us close to being done. I hope that you two look back on the fun memories we made together and smile, because man, we had one hell of a childhood!