I remember when you were all just babies, and even before some of you were born. That's when we ruled the neighborhood. That's when those streets you now ride your bikes down were ours. Our childhoods were spent all together each afternoon claiming the land that surrounded our houses. We spent summer afternoons pool-hopping and winter nights sledding from one yard to the next. Those were the carefree days, but now you, a new generation, has taken over the neighborhood, and I hope you realize the special gift it is, because in this technological world we now live in, I'm afraid you won't get those same experiences that I still look back on.
We used to start and end every school today together at the bus stop. We would see each other at school and make plans for what we were going to do later that afternoon once we finished our homework. Countless football and basketball games were played, and the evidence showed in the bumps, bruises, and scars we had and still have today. We built forts and made mud pies. Some afternoons we would just lay in the grass and complain about school or our parents. All of those things seemed cliche now, but in those moments, we were living the life.
That tree that took you two years to climb, we climbed too. That crack in the sidewalk you tripped on last week, we tripped on too. That pothole you try to jump your bike over, we jumped too. And who knows, maybe this summer you'll have those hoverboard Segways and won't even need to go around those. Any part of that jungle gym you've made in the yards and the street, we too have left our mark on.
And although we began to go our separate ways in high school, that bond was still there. In the hallways, we would give each other a head nod. On winter nights when we were all out sledding, we would meet up and tackle the once scary hills. We waved at each other in the morning as we drove by instead of saying good morning at the bus stop.
So I guess the thing I am trying to get at is to cherish these moments, because before you know it you'll just be waving at each other from your cars racing through your much busier life. Some people will move away. Some new people will move in with their young children and they will start to own the neighborhood which is now your playground. There will be no more bus stop small talk or bike races down hills. Your conversations will fade to just waves while driving by or going on a jog; maybe you'll even stop to see how college is going. But no matter what happens or how far away you go, the neighborhood will always be yours -- you just have to share it now.
