Special in My Neighborhood

When we moved in to our "first house" 9 years ago, a sweet, older German lady came over and brought us a cake (probably a German cake - but not a Germans Chocolate Cake, because that's not actually "German.") Anyways.... Cornelia was very sweet and always bringing us goodies. The cookies at Christmas are incredible! And the egg liquor (not eggnog) is "special" in a good way.

When Grace was born (on Cornelia's birthday) she said that Grace could call her Meme. That's what her many grandchildren call her. And she always brings over birthday gifts for the birthday child and the other two ("so no one is left out.")

On summer mornings, when the windows are open, I can hear Meme talking on the phone to her relatives in Germany. It's fun to listen and imagine the family she has in another part of the world. It's special to have a neighbor like Meme.

THE GATE. This is the gateway to fun around here. We got tired of walking around the block to each other's houses and the kids were getting too big to hand over the fence anymore. Actually, Aidan and Cole went through a "take the fence apart phase." And they got a couple boards off - enough to squeeze through and it was golden! We decided to make the leap and put an official gate in between our backyards. We have had some ups and downs with this new found freedom, but we worked through it. (Tying up the fence with a rope to make it Luke proof.)

What's really special, I think, is the "freedom" we have given our children during a time when you wouldn't normally think of loosening the reigns. The kind of freedom I had growing up where I could walk to a friends house on "the trail" or play out in the woods as long as I was home in time for dinner. I remember riding my bike to 7-11 with some older kids (maybe it only happened once) from our apartments when we lived in a bigger town (before we moved "up the hill.") I would never dream of letting my kids do those things now.

But let me tell you, they love their "freedom." I remember when the gate first went in over a year ago, Grace was going next door to play with Avery and she said, "you don't need to walk me, mom." She looked proud and smug and very grown up. And all I could think was, this was a good thing. There are afternoons when Cole and Aidan do nothing but run back and forth between houses (usually claiming they need a snack - we caught on to that one really quick!) And there have been some Friday afternoons that turn into nights where the running back and forth (because they can - not because they are doing anything in particular) gets really fun with flashlights, too. Yes, our gate is special.