Oreo

Oreo

Friday, October 26, 2012

It is and always will be home.


Growing Up Burrwood

     Ours was a unique little community in a community. We were to 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. 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, whose children or siblings lived around them for a bit. A few have remained as have my sisters and I have. I just can’t imagine living anywhere else.

10 comments:

  1. This place sounds heavenly to me..sort of a WALTON type place to live where everyone cares about everyone else. I sure wish I lived in that type of place. What folks we have left are scattered all over the place and we never see each other. It sounds like you had a wonderful place to grow up in. Thanks for taking me there. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds like Heaven....are you an angel?

    We have a little resort that is close to us that started out just like that....next to a lake. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, it boomed and now, it's not a little place anymore. The one good thing about it, they have a law that protects deer there....NO DEER HUNTING at all!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ahhhhh the good old days. I remember it well!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds wonderful. If only all places were like that.

    A beautiful post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You having it almost like two month time...
    We will be having a good time soon!
    Thank you for helping me two days ago.
    Have a nice weekend!
    Michiko

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't live close to family and am an only child but here in our state it's a small enough population to know the safety of small places yet big enough to have the comforts of bigger places which is the perfect balance. I can't imagine being anywhere else either...though come winter I could imagine it being warmer!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a lovley uplifting post Terry, just my sort of place, I wish, although we area a crowded little island, people are very fragmented, probably bacause of it, My daughters live around 20 miles away, only brother in Scotland, neices and nephews, in South Africa and Scotland,parents deceased, oh to have more family close at hand would be wonderful, thank you for sharing, even if it does make me feel envious. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a neat neighborhood and family. You don't find that much anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  9. All our lives we are engaged in preserving our experiences and keeping them fresh in our memories. You my Dear, have such pleasant memories. Thank you for sharing and bringing your little piece of heaven to the rest of us. While reading your entry, I closed my eyes and started thinking of my own childhood and my own stomping grounds... Home Sweet Home. For a few minutes, the world seemed perfect!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I kind of get the impression that there are a lot of mighty fine looking ladies in Burrwood. :)

      Delete