Hey Mom! I Live In A Neighborhood!

Yesterday was an awesome day. My sons have been playing with their buddies these last few days before (public) school starts. I helped my friend Kristine organize her son's pool party, then we hung out at the pool all day, BBQ'd, and drank margaritas...then later in the evening we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. I have never made a s'more in my life. It was an amazing day.

Throughout the day my memory raced back to when I was a little LITTLE girl. We lived on a farm in a very rural area, my older sister hated me and my younger brother was a brat, so I watched PBS quite a bit. (Frankly, that was about the only channel we could pick up with our TV antenna). I watched Sesame Street, Zoom, Electric Company and Lilia's Yoga & You. My favorite show, however, was Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Reminding you that I lived in the middle of nowhere, I was overly impressed with how many people lived in Fred Rogers' neighborhood. He had SO MANY friends! He could walk anywhere and visit places, he constantly had visitors, everyone was so friendly...I was smitten.

One day I went up to my Mom, and I said..."I want to live in a neighborhood," and quietly in my head I finished the sentence with "ideally right next door to Mr. Rogers". Unfortunately, not long after that I got my wish. My father passed away when I was 7, we sold the farm and all the equipment and moved to California. Over the years I have lived in many tract home developments and condo complexes. Now I am 42 years old, with kids of my own, we live in a lovely townhouse with tons of neighborhood kids and other friendly, interesting neighbors. I can walk down the sidewalk and meet friendly people from all over the world, babies who are learning to walk and talk, dogs who sniff and bark, kids riding scooters and crazy skateboards. We can go to the pool or the park and we are part of a community. Yesterday as I sat by the pool, it hit me. This is Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. This was my dream and now I am living it.

I am personally very grateful for Mr. Rogers and his show. It impressed upon my young mind that a friendly, stress-free environment where people communicate and help on another is truly beneficial and something to strive for. That image was burned into my subconscious, and I find that many people my age are very friendly and accommodating. Do you think we ALL watched Public Access TV when we were young? Chances are we did. Isn't it amazing how a childhood fantasy can turn out to be the future? Do you think that was Fred Rogers plan all along? I'm thinking YES. If you are a 40 something and have an inkling of what I am talking about, give me shout! I'd love to hear from you!