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Friday, January 7, 2011

Growing up Burrwood


 Ours was a unique little community in a community. We were not close to town. A dip off the side of the U.S. highway close to the river, nestled in between two cities. It was called “Burrwood Park” and it consisted of four and three quarter streets. It originally began as summer houses, a little vacation retreat (fishing shacks) so to speak. Some families decided to make a permanent homestead.
I grew up having my grandparents and aunts and uncles all around me. Grandma and Grandpa were just five houses up the street with uncle Jim. Across from them were my aunt Dot and uncle Ken, and aunt Pat and Uncle Dale. Next door was uncle Jack and aunt Ceil. Down the road on the river front was uncle Bill and aunt Lucy.  As each grew and married they stayed right in the neighborhood as did a number of other families. Eventually some moved off to other areas, those most stayed within the local town. A few families still have two or three members who have houses here. My mother-in-law lives just up the street. My sisters and I are all within a couple streets of each other and in-laws of theirs also live here.
Things such a roofing parties, yard parties, cookouts etc. were the norm. Someone sitting on a porch was an open invite to sit and chat. If you decided to build a garage, new roof, or addition of some sort, the neighbors were right there chipping in to help. The women fixed food and at the end of the day everyone sat and had eats and a few drinks admiring their handy work.
It was, and to some extent, still is a neighborhood where everyone looked out for each other and all the kids. A reputation for a safe place so known that people from town brought there kids here for trick or treat. Our children enjoy coming here where they feel it’s safe to let their kids ride bikes without an adult with them all the time. Where they can even play catch in the street.
We all stuck together like a big family. The big kids watched out for the little ones. Even if it was from going back and forth to school or just playing ball. All the kids played together and the little ones were given the help they needed to play. From hide and seek, to baseball or football, if you wanted to play, you could. We stuck together like a big family. If we fought among ourselves we worked it out, but heaven help someone who tried to cause trouble for one of us. We banded together like a small army.   I just can’t imagine living anywhere else.
 



 
 
 
 
 

7 comments:

  1. It reminds me of my own coming up..and is probably a large part of what makes us all the way we are. I know I enjoy you and your sister and both of you all's families very much.

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  2. This is a wonderful post. It would be so nice to have so much family close by. I enjoy reading about all of your families.

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  3. I lived a very different life where our family was always traveling from place to place for my dad's job and I'm an only child so I've never known the strong attachment to family that many people know. I believe that it's a tremendous blessing to know the life you're talking about and that should be a wonderful thing to cherish all the days of your life!

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  4. This post sure brought back memories of my old neighborhood back in the '50's and early 60's.
    We didn't have family close by, but, the neighbors were like extended family.

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  5. This is really a neat little story. I always wondered about the name and now I know all about it. I'd say you were very lucky to grow up in such a tight knit neighborhood

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  6. What does three quarters of a street look like? Do the cars going one way have one wheel off the pavement?

    My whole town was as safe and carefree as your neighborhood, and actually it still is (I never lock my doors), but people don't act like it. I remember staying with my aunt in the city (before TV and air conditioning brought everyone inside) and you knew someone was coming down the block in the evening before you saw them: you would hear, "Good evening, Mrs. Murdock," "Good evening, Mr Jones," "Good evening, Mrs. Weston" and so on all the way down the block. People spoke. People sat on their porches.

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  7. You definietly have me feeling a little home sick, home sick for South Dakota. I think I get homesick for the whole idea of having a hometown where people remember you when.

    What a great story... what a great place no doubt.

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